Board of Education Meeting March 4, 2026

001Uh so uh this is the uh regular board of education meeting for East Rory Union Free School District, Wednesday, March 4th, 2026. Uh please stand and join me in the pledge to the flag. >> I 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. Thank you all. Uh may I have a motion to enter executive session to discuss the superintendent's evaluation continuing negotiations with the EA faculty and civil service associations matters pertaining to the possible promotion or discipline of six uh certified personnel and matters pertaining to two particular corporations moved by Mr. Blow second. >> second by Mrs. Whitel. Discussion. All in favor? >> I opposed extensions and that is passed 6. And there

002is a motion for discipline of six certified personnel and matters pertaining to two particular corporations. [clears throat] We are back into open session. Moving on to item four. We do have agenda changes. >> Uh yeah. Yes, we do. Um we have uh three additional resolutions to place in 19 A, B, and C under new business. Ruthie from running for reelection and have asked the board for an endorsement. Jeff Chase from Pine Valley, David Lowry from Uruguay, and Steve Nars from Jamestown. Add that to uh business. We are moving on to uh item 5. Kim said she was bringing the jacket for me. [laughter] No, I'm just kidding. >> You want to assist? Okay, we'll go over here. >> You guys go. >> So, I'm going to apologize for my attire. I'm going to head to

003the basketball game in a little bit. So, I wanted to be in my my EA gear, but um wanted to thank the board for giving us an opportunity to uh recognize uh four, uh individuals tonight. And um I [clears throat] think you've heard of the success of our our unified program at the high school, right? um from the the polar plunge to the unified club um and everything that they do to promote inclus um to unified basketball and bowling and it's been um I would say a a positive change to the culture of East High School and that um comes from the leadership of Terara Arnold first and foremost. Um and recently these four individuals had an opportunity um to take a little trip, right? And um they've been celebrated locally, right? And they've been

004uh celebrated at a state level, but this was this took it to a to a a whole new uh level uh that we've we've never um been able to have an influence, and that was in Washington DC. Uh, and um, so I'm going to let Sadie and Cam and Claire Kavanaaugh and Tara Arnold talk about that um, experience and I thought it would um, be a nice recognition for them, but also promote the the impact that they've had not only on Easter High School, but Western New York, the state of New York, and and now um, our country. So, I'm just going to introduce um the students presenting and kind of what where this trip kind of started from. So, our club, it really is student driven, student run. So, the success of the club

005is because of our students. We have over 160 students in unified club at the high school. Um we have co-presidents um Pam Jacob and Diego Barcenus who's also here. Um, so really their leadership is what makes this club successful. Um, so I got approached from Special Olympics New York, our Special Olympics rep, um, Julia Posh, who asked if Eastora High School would be interested in representing New York State um, to advocate for inclusion, unified sports, unified programming um, and Special Olympics and Special Olympics healthcare and health services. So these two um represented uh New York state delegates um along with uh one other individual in New York state and represented the whole state. So Special Olympics is a nonpartisan organization um and they really created uh speeches to meet with different representatives. They'll talk about

006um who we met with and kind of our journey over three days. Um but we just wanted to thank everyone involved in the club. Um it's really the students first who drive this club um and the success [clears throat] of the club and it really starts with our leaders in the clubs and uh any of the kids who are in the clubs. So we prepared by um Special Olympics provided all the funding for us to be able to go. So they paid our way um there and they organized what what they were going to say with the different representatives in meeting with them. And then Miss Kavanaaugh um in her class uh coordinated and planned different Easter themed and unified themed um stickers, bracelets. Yes. So, uh, uh, in front of you, all of you

007got, uh, the bios that represented Cam and Sadi and the script that they provided. And really, the first couple times through, they read from the script and then they were just speaking from the heart um, with all the legislators. Mr. Russ, in front of you, you have a bag. Um Satie was representing Yes. Unified, but to make it really uh a classwide project, um our students in our workbased learning center created Easter bags that we passed out to every legislator um of little Easter trinkets. One of which is um one of our one of my students, Tim Cohane, has his own sticker business called Stick It to Tim and he does uh different sticker dot drops and he chose um he sketches all of his drone drawings. Um, and through the amazing partnership with Kim

008Riser and uh, Blue Devil Design, he produces them um, in class and then he sells them um, throughout the school community. Um, and so and there are some of his Buffalo Bills stickers that we also had to say go Bills when we were there. Um, so yeah. So take it away. >> Yeah. So on the 9th we took off. We flew there and honest the plane ride was a little scary, right? >> Oh yeah, [laughter] >> we made it work. It was all good. Um, so Capitol Hill is ran by the Special Olympics. Every year we just advocate and just spread awareness for funding and [clears throat] just kind of to get the word out to like members of Congress to let people know like what we're doing. There was over 300 meeting meetings held

009on Capitol Hill for better understanding for Special Olympics to advocate for like our health and education programs. We made a lot of good connections. We made many new friends between all the different states. Um some of our goals for going on this trip were to educate lawmakers, convey impact, cost of Yeah. secure continued support. So um day one we had an athlete social with all other I think every 50 states. Yeah. Yeah. So all other states were there. We made new friends. We had dinner with the CEO which was Stacy. She is a sweetheart. Did you have fun? >> Yes. >> So we did that the first day. Satie tried a Shirley Temple which [laughter] was really good. Um, day two was kind of filled with all of our meetings. So, we met with six

010different representatives from New York. Um, we kind of just talked to them and educated them about what we do at Easter and kind of in Western New York and the events that we participate in which was amazing. A lot of them or some of them were kind of like unaware of what we actually did. being able to speak about like our experiences with like Sadi and bowling and basketball and just me being the co-president of the club was awesome. So, um these are some of our meetings. Did you have what were your some of your favorite parts? >> Um probably >> Yeah. So these were um Stacy and Casey who are the president and CEO of Special Olympics New York along with Miss Arnold, Miss Kavanagh and Sadi and Julia who's the new like Western

011New York representative and Daniel and Claire who are also they're from New York City but they were also New York delegates too that we worked with. Um we walked 15,000 steps. You got to see a lot of cool monuments like Teddy Roosevelt. [laughter] Satie might have a crush on Teddy. We did get Millard Filmore in there just to represent, but um Teddy. [laughter] Sorry, Satie. Sorry. Just to let everybody know. >> Young Teddy. Young Teddy. Young Teddy. [laughter] >> Um this was mine and Satie was both of our first both of our first times in Washington DC. So honest honestly for me it was such a cool and I think for 82 it was such a cool experience to be able to see all the museums and like the national buildings and just be able

012to experience like the culture there while also having like such a huge impact on the Special Olympics New York and East Aurora as well. Um we walked on 4,000 steps on day three. We went to We didn't have any meetings this day. So, we went to the National Mall and saw we went to We went to the African-American History Museum. We walked around. We saw the Lincoln Memorial and we kind of just got to experience the culture of DC and experienced new things. We went to the Reflection Fountain, kind of rested our feet cuz we're really [laughter] tired, reflected, and recharged. But it was really cool. Well, if you've ever been to DC, I would or if you haven't, I would really recommend just being able to learn. >> The reflection pool is an amazing

013uh uh place to visit in the National African-Amean Museum. And there's many amazing um exposed to see, but they're very deep and very um you learn a lot about their history. And to be there, but also to sit and reflect of what these two amazing ladies did over the course of three days was really just for me as being a special ed teacher being an Easter for 26 years was so profound to know um that they represented Easter and special limits in a way that um over time seeing how special ed has evolved in our district. um the importance that you value inclusive education um fighting for programs, thinking inside of the box for um providing programs for our students here at district and if we can't find it here, where can we find it?

014Um and so that that time, yes, we were resting our feet, but it was just a quiet uh place to kind of reflect of of the opportunity that the two of them had. So, we just want to say thank you for being able to speak about what we did and just thank you to Special Olympics and everything that you guys do for our district to be able to have these amazing experiences. But we have some fun things coming up. Do you want to talk about inclusion week? >> Mhm. >> What's your special day? >> Unicorn rainbow William syndrome. William syndrome. >> So, Unifi is uh running an inclusion week where each day we highlight a specific disability. Um we have autism, cerebal palsy, rare genetic day, uh William syndrome day, and also down syndrome day.

015Each year those disabilities change, but we gather input from people in different schools, our EA SEPTA to make sure that we represent all different types of disabilities to educate them. Um, what's amazing about this event, and I'm going to say this, and I know she's going to hate me later, but, um, the reason why we were selected for this, and the reason why we are a unified champion school, and she'll never say it, um, so just you can tell me later. Tara Arnold is a master teacher. We all know that, but she is just the most amazing human being. Um, we are such dear friends because she shares that [clears throat] common passion with mine of special education. what she does. I know you're cringing right now. What she does um when you come to

016unified events, what she does, um all the time she puts in to uh spread the importance of inclusion, uh it's I can't even express it. Um and so inclusion week again, she shared all of this with our middle middle school. We have a unified program down there which she has helped uh foster and and that is developed and proud to say we have now one at Parkdale. Um, and that is all because of yes, they are student run, but she is a believer in the ship. So, inclusion week, what's awesome is if you're out and about, at tops on a Friday, everyone's wearing the same colors. That's it's it's really a community event and it sparks the conversation like why are you wearing a zebra onesie or why are you wearing a unicorn onesie? Um,

017and it is to educate those with disabilities in our community. Um but really what's exciting is Friday uh March 13th uh they are hosting their very own unified talent show. Um you want to share more and see where with Mrs. So um I think with this it's important to say that that it's it's really takes a village. Um I've communicated with middle school advisor the partail adviserss for inclusion week to make this districtwide. Um but those students there uh make and create that too and we get student feedback on what they want to do for this week. Um the unified talent show is new this year because students wanted to do this. So in Kim Riser's class um and some seniors here are involved in this planning process too. They wanted to do a unified

018talent show um through one of her classes and kind of a partnered so it's completely studentrun. I've tried to kind of stay out of it so that they're facilitating. We have um three acts from the middle school um and then our high schoolers doing this too to kind of kick off the week. So it really is student driven in what they want to do. But we always say it takes a village. Um the amount of aids that are involved in this programming um as well as our teachers in all three buildings really make it function um in addition to our students because they keep wanting to do more. So we're helping facilitate that. So really takes everyone. Sie do you want to say what you're doing for the unified talent show? >> Okay. So, um,

019Friday I'm going to be singing the, um, source spacer. Michael's going to be doing the sign language >> and Michael Clark is doing the sign language with, uh, the amazing help from Jackie Adam who is our speech pathologist. Um, has worked with his, um, device where they've recorded it and now he's practicing it. They've shared voice lessons together. Um, so again, it, as Cher says, it takes a village. I will say this as I meet with Mr. for us every year around budgetary time and and to see how the department is going. I always start off with talking about gates. Um I could not have gone when I'm out of my classroom for one day. It's it's rough to be out for three consecutive days. Um I could not have taken the strip without the

020incredible team of Jessica Lynn who's a one-on-one aid, Beverly Welsh and our classroom aid, Karen Matthews who's our one-on-one aid, and we always say our plus one, but Bill will never give me her. Erica Spencer um it they seamlessly had our class running while I was away and that is tested on how much there is so much investment towards um our programming here at Easter. So shout out to Aaron Halco for taking over my class too. [laughter] Kids need to learn how to read and write as well too. So that was important. So, thank you guys for um allowing us to do this via our classrooms and having them represent our programming too and so many others that are here tonight that are involved in Unified. So, thanks. >> Thank you. All right. Um, we

021are moving on to item B. We have a board member election announcement. Uh, from our discuss board. >> Thank you. We have two board members, Daniel Brunson and Dean Paul Blowers, whose three-year terms are expiring on June 30th. Miss Malice was appointed by the board to fill the vacancy created when Jessica Arrest resigned. Since she was appointed by the board, Miss Malice's term expires at the next regular school district election. The receipts will be filled at the May 19th, 2026 election. The candidate who received the highest number of votes will be elected to serve as with both commens election after filing the oath of office and continue until June 30th, 2029. The two candidates who receive the second and third highest number of votes will each be elected to serve a threeinute. Nominating petitions will

022be available to Mrs. Kramer in the superintendent's office beginning on March 5th, 2026 to require 29 signatures back in the office of the district clerk no later than Monday, April 20th by 5:00 p.m. Erie County Association of School Boards and Mar County School Boards Association are both holding respective school board members. They are scheduled Saturday, March 28th and Saturday, April 11th. A link to registration information can be found on the district website on the board of education boards page under the vest. >> Uh we are moving on to item six uh community member comments. Um, I just wanted to read to the board of the emails that we've received since our last meeting uh on October 10th. Uh, we uh on the 9th we received an email from Sarah Hunting. Uh, uh, expressing uh, gratitude

023and perspective. Uh also on the 9th from uh Michael Jetty regarding an event on uh uh Jeff Chase that same day uh a request uh for a nomination to the uh force. Uh Mr. Lombardo and Hecman emailed us on the 12th regarding a signing at high school. uh uh Melanie Boder on the 13th with regards to the boys uh varsity basketball game. Um we received a response from Mr. Lombardo uh on that same day about that basketball game. Uh Miss Perry uh emailed us about World Kindness Day on the 13th. Um and uh Christine Schnars on the 22nd. uh in regards [clears throat] to nomination for you all receive those and have a chance to review them. >> Thank you all. Um and we are going to move on to uh comments. We have one.

024>> Hello. Haven't seen you all in a while. Hello board members. I wanted to come here tonight to talk to you about something I noticed this year that has had a positive effect on my child and our family. This year my child back there, [laughter] he has Mrs. Hayes at Parkdale. Um he's in third grade. And when we were assigned Mrs. Hayes, I had friends who has whose children had her in previous years and they said, "Oh, you're going to have a great year." But none of the parents mentioned this thing that Mrs. Haze does. That is one of my favorite things this year. Uh, but before we get to that, I want to tell you about how I found out about what was happening in her classroom. So, one day my son came home

025and at dinner he told me all about this hilarious book that he was reading at school and I stopped in my tracks and I said, "Wait, what book are you reading? Are you reading Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Bloom?" And he said, "Yes." And I said, "No." And he said, "What?" And I said, "Really?" And he laughed and he said, "Yes." And I said, "Teddy, that is one of my all-time favorite books. Your grandma and I read that to me when I was little, and I have been waiting to read that to you since I was pregnant with you." I tried asking for more details, and as you'd expect, I didn't get very far. So, for for those of you who are not familiar with the book, it follows a little boy, Peter,

026who is nine, and his experiences with his somewhat hilarious little brother, Fudge, who is about 2 and a half. Teddy is almost nine and he is the oldest of three kids and he has a three-year-old brother. Using the Rooms app, I messaged Mrs. Hayes that night and I asked, "I heard you're reading one of my most favorite books. Is there a curriculum you're doing with it? This book is beloved in my family and I'd love to know more about what you're doing with it." And she said, "No. Uh, it's not part of a specific curriculum. I just read a chapter aloud to my students in the afternoons for the pure enjoyment and to encourage a love of reading." At first, I was a little bit bummed that I didn't get to be the one to

027read the Fudge books with my kiddo. But the way he talked about Peter's little brother, Fudge, reminded him of his little brother constantly getting into stuff his toddlers do. And I realized, oh my goodness, this kid got to experience one of the funniest books with all his friends. And that's really something that I, as a parent, cannot provide. And that's why I'm here today. From my account, Mrs. Hayes has read about eight chapter books to her third graders this year. There have been some classics like Ramona, Age8, Matilda, Box Car Children, and then others that are new to me like Fig Pudding. Right now, they're working their way through because of Wind Dixie. These chapter books Mrs. Hayes reads are not long, a few minutes each. But those few minutes every day really add up

028and means that all these students have read at least eight chapter books this year as a group. As the year has gone on, I've seen the impact on this of this practice on my son. He's become so much more excited about reading fiction. For this, he stuck pretty solidly to non-fiction texts, and I really believe being able to sit in class with his friends, make jokes with his teachers and peers, and relax into a good book has had a significant impact on him. In many studies, you'll see that reading aloud to students is one of the best practices you can do to encourage students to start identifying themselves as a reader and to build their interest. As a parent, I wanted to share the story with you, the board members, because I see it in

029the larger context of what is happening in our country with public education. While some districts are dictating exactly what happens in a student's day, write down descriptive lessons. I'm so proud that in our district, we are allowing our classroom teachers to be the experts and decide how they deliver content to students and how they work to develop readers. Knowing that my kiddo has a teacher who can choose which books to read based on the needs of the students right in front of her [clears throat] makes me so relieved and thankful. I didn't read the Fudge books to my kiddo because I didn't know if he was ready reading level-wise for them. But our classroom teachers know exactly what type of text and content our kids are ready for. And I'm really grateful for what flexibility

030they do have within their day to create meaningful experiences like these with their students. After all, fudge is best enjoyed with friends. Thank you. All right, we are moving on to item seven, superintendent. [clears throat] Okay, cool. Uh, we will move on to item. Uh, are there any administrators who have be very brief. Good evening everybody. Um uh we're having a blast at Parkdale. Um March has become March Madness at Parkdale. So I just wanted to take an opportunity to share madness in a good way. Um to share all the wonderful things that are happening this month in March. Um first upcoming next week is our literacy night. I know I mentioned that at the last um board meeting on literacy night will be the 12th, March 12th from 5 to 7. Um, so if

031you're available, come and visit. Everything surrounds the science of reading. Um, I counted today, I think there are 40 different stations that we have volunteers running. We have some student volunteers coming to help [clears throat] and it's sure to be an amazing event. We actually have a um we're demoing a community circle as well where um families can participate and they can participate in the circle. It's also um around reading and two of our character groups um that we've had over the last couple months. Um, another thing coming up the next week is inclusion week. I know um, Sadie and our unified friends have talked about that already and there's been a lot of great work done between our unified club at Parkdale and the high school and bringing those things together and the week

032is full. There's spirit days and all sorts of wonderful activities, art projects, buddy um, classes are working together and it's sure to be an amazing week at Parkdale. Um, following that, we have our author visit the next week. Um, our author is Patrick O'Neal. And this is really special because I believe um, and Judy might know who you from being in the district. Um, I think it's the first non-fiction author that Parkdale has had. So, um, so it's really exciting and all of his work is around aquatic animals and wildlife. Um, so that's really exciting. in our special area. Teachers are working to try to incorporate that into their um assignments and build awareness as we get closer and build excitement to that day. And then recently, just to add to the excitement of March,

033Nicole Lee Boy, our music teacher, um came forward recently and wanted to highlight the work the music department is doing with music in our schools. Um, so there's going to be presentations every day from students that whole last week of March to kick off music in our schools week and a lot of other fun activities, spirit days around that too. So we are calling this March Madness because we are just full um March is just full of fun and excitement. So um just excited to share that with you. So, we just thought we would give an update on UPK since open. Um, it will be open until March or end of March and we currently have 90 students that are registered. Um, we're going through the process of verifying the information we need to verify

034that they're age appropriate and everything else. Um, so that's good. And we also wanted the board to be aware that we did receive an RFP from a community based organization and because one of the requirements of accepting the grant is that you have to collaborate with community organizations. We know we send out an RFP annually and we have had one. We're actually doing a site visit tomorrow and then we'll be um we have a rubric that will go through and evaluate the RFP. So we've started that process also. Awesome. Oh, and I just wanted to mention going along with conclusion week and SEPSA, um I believe it's roundup at the co-op for and it's um for SEAPSA. All the money is being donated to SPSA. So, if you're thinking of stopping in the co-op, please

035consider rounding up. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Any other administrators? Mr. Roberts. >> Uh, just quickly, last meeting I recognized the success of our our math league team and um and and I thought that our mock trial team deserves some recognition. Uh they um have gone as as far as any team that I can remember [clears throat] one step away from state competition in Albany. Um they they beat St. Francis in a quarterfinal match and in a somewhat controversial um decision lost to Nicholls in the semifinals. Um, but I want to congratulate Brian Sirwiki uh for mentoring this crew, working with them. Students, you hear the announcements, it was every single morning in his classroom, some evenings uh and um and really trial team and because of that they had great success. So, if you don't

036mind, um the following individuals uh played the roles of defense attorneys and witnesses, uh prosecution attorneys and witnesses and um and and and truly I I believe there was one senior, so we're we're expecting some more success from them in the future. Um but Roger Holtz, uh Julianne Ferrer, Kira Lucian, Anastasia Maggie, Maline Welch, PJ Hume, um Adeline Hansen, Noah Fornis, and Samaki. So congratulations to them and to Mr. Seri on your success of the mock trial. [clears throat] >> If you enjoy the comforts of our cafeteria, we'll be back here on Tuesday. It's our LEAP passion project proposal night. So, as a part of our LEAP program annually, you may remember that uh we have our big event where it's the passion project presentation night at the Knox Mansion. We usually do that in

037May or or early June, but the kids are starting now and as a part of that process, they give a uh a 30-second elevator uh proposal on what they want their projects to be on. So, if you can't make it that night in in uh late May, you can come and hear all the projects in about a half an hour. Uh it's like speed dating with projects. So, uh we'll be here at 6:30 if you you're interested in in joining us. And then, although we do have another board meeting between now and then, um on Thursday the 19th of of this month, Brian Bal Mages, you remember from last meeting, the music department introduced um the the piece that he's going to be doing. He will be conducting our middle school uh and high school

038bands at their regular concert. Uh a little history on this. Our Jeff Wilmore, our band teacher, did a proposal to the educational foundation uh to uh be able to bring in this rural renowned composer and conductor. He will be our students in uh about a week. He'll be here in school doing a a long practice with them in preparation for that concert that night. So we certainly uh invite you to to be a part of this. It's going to be I mean probably a once in a career opportunity for for many of us to see something like this. So we're really excited about that and uh look forward to being here. >> Thank you everyone. Any others? >> Great. Thank you all for being here. We are moving on to item nine, board president and

039board member comments. Um, I'll get us going and uh just my my standard pitch that uh if there's anyone in the audience who isn't already subscribed, >> I highly recommend it. Uh it just uh hosts uh not only uh some live sporting events but um uh announcements and a uh a recently started uh within the past year podcast uh that there are uh new episodes coming out and it's a great avenue and if you subscribe to it you do get not you can get notifications about new uh content. Uh I highly recommend it. Um, moving on. Uh, I attended two different uh meetings since our our last uh board meeting. One, the uh ECASB budget and finance committee uh at which we discussed the uh the organization's uh budget um that had previously [clears throat]

040been approved by the um the executive committee. Uh we had a healthy discussion around it. Um couple of things of note for uh for us are that uh the dues for I believe the 12th year in a row are remaining flat. Thank you. Um and uh also there are some uh they are looking at uh um adjusting some of the uh the programming. Um and uh as the calendar see um the budget and finance did uh agree with that budget as presented. Um, I also then attended the delegate assembly meeting uh where we reviewed the budget for the organization. And I'm not going to tell you about [clears throat] it because I just told you about it because I got the pleasure of seeing it twice. What I also had the pleasure of doing at

041that delegate assembly meeting was because there were no uh officers of the organization uh I had the opportunity to chair that meeting. Uh and um I hope I did you all proud. Um but uh it was a uh uh as always a good meeting uh filled with uh good information about about past and upcoming uh events. Uh and uh winding up with the uh the roundroin where districts give a one minute uh update on something that's unique that's happening in their uh district. I talked about the fact that we had a uh an appointment an open space and we went through an appointment process and walked through our reasoning on that. Uh and there was one other district who had recently gone through it and one who was going to be going through it. So

042that's that's sort of the benefit of that that brown drop. Um and uh yeah, it was great. Moving on. Um, on February 13th, I attended the safety committee meeting with Mrs. Malice. And I'm just going to just go through briefly highlight a couple of things we we spoke about. Um, with respect to each of the schools, everything seems to be running smoothly. Um, at Parkdale, they did a tabletop on a suspicious person. And at the middle school they um were working on a school closing and where the students were not going to go to their regular place but were going to be directed to sign out. So there was just some discussion about those things with respect to buildings and grounds. Uh the capital project is going smoothly. They have been doing spot checks on

043badges and that has been when they've done the spot checks that's been working and and all of the people that are working on the project are have the proper identification of the have to be in our buildings. Um they also uh with respect to buildings and grounds there [clears throat] now is going to be um a salt log that's going to reflect the dates and times when um salt is placed just with respect to all the snow and ice or the snow um and ice that we have just uh when the salt has been placed. So that's just sort of you know if there's ever a claim in the future that that information is there. Um with respect to transportation, there's a brief discussion about um the bus issue that we had when there was

044the extreme cold and um the individual from first student um just explained how it was thought to be a battery issue initially, but then they realized it was a fuel issue. So to correct that, it is um they're now using a a fuel blend and an additive that's good for up to um I think it's -20. So she said it's what they use basically in Minnesota and all those those areas. So this should not be a problem. It's a fuel length that's for zone one. So it's for even lower temperatures. So and um then uh we had some discussion about technology and the different things that are in place just um with respect to technology. I'm just not uh working on the capital outlay and the capital project with the state grant for um getting

045cameras the camera system and storage for the camera systems. So um that's kind of Oh, I'm sorry. There's more athletics. Uh we talked about athletics. Athletics are going well. Um we had eight students that were diagnosed with a concussion. Um but everyone had recovered and [laughter] um we just talked briefly about what the what the procedure is and what's in place in terms of with the concussions, how they do an impair test um once a year and then you're not eligible to play, you know, depending on what this highlights what we what we talked about. So that's it. I have no committee reports, but I do want to recommend to anybody thinking about running for the board to go to that Bosey's perspective for training because it really lets you know what being a board

046member is about. I did a [clears throat] is so so valuable to deciding whether or not the only thing I have is I did have the pleasure of attending the SEPSA meeting last week um where they discussed inclusion week as well as um ideas for their ideas and the things they have in in plan for connecting with more community and more families. Um, and they talked about the different successes they've had within the schools. Um, just helping themselves navigate and others using others ideas to help navigate schools and the community. Um, very very positive group of like people but not just positive but positive ideaoriented group of people. Um and it is the parent teacher students um association. So everyone's welcome to join and they welcome the input. >> Great. Thank you. >> Yeah. I

047was like [laughter] um Mr. Brunson and I attended the internal audit committee meeting last week. have copy of the updated risk assessment as an assessment updates were added to the track submitted to the entire board in the near future. flowers. >> I don't have much to add. Kim did a a really good job. But I I I have to second uh any people who are thinking of running for the board that you do attend those OC's meetings because school law and school finance are very different than what's going on in the world. And it was a real eye openener for me coming from education being a teacher and then coming into board justice and I you you can't come on to a board with a huge and I think it's really important that that you

048go to these meetings and you get that overview because then you can hit the ground running and it does make a huge difference. So that was just >> I wanted to thank Tara um and the different ones that that presented >> the unified club. >> Yeah, the whole unified club. I just love that. I I love the opportunity that that's giving to these kiddos. I also know um you have to understand that as we learn to be inclusive with one another, life goes a whole lot smoother because we're going to be exposed to one another for the rest of our lives. And I just love that it does take a village. I'd like to add that I don't think a lot of people understand. and we we sit up here and we give these little

049renditions of the meetings we've been to, but the safety meeting that Kim and I were at, I don't think we understand that it takes a village for that meeting to even happen. The stakeholders of that meeting, for instance, were we had representatives from the school district, the police department, we had the fire department. Buildings and grounds don't get enough credit. I mean, they're like gifts. [laughter] I could never have taught without the building guys helping me up there with getting things for my room. My first budget was $35. So, it was a big deal to be able to have those guys show me where I could find what I could get. So, they're they're just a blessing. They make our lives safer all the way around. Um the insurance company was there. I don't think

050they mentioned yet, Richard. Um the insurance people were there and they mentioned um documentary are being safe. this permeates the students. It permeates the blessing. It permeates the community because this is all one big deal. And um he said that the safety awards could actually mean financial compensation because we're in a platinum level which means a high level that we're really um I would like to add one other thing to the athletic director situation. Uh when I was on the board before, one of the things that I was on this committee, one of the things that I asked for consistent was database of injury from Harkale right straight up through. Because if you have a database like that for injuries, you get a baseline and you can have a comparative effort to be able to

051look at what's happening, where it's happening, do we need to improve, do we need to intervene? And that's so very important to make sure you kids are safe and that the teachers are safe and that the staff is safe because if we're safe then we can it's like Maslo's law. If we can feel safe and comfortable, then we can learn and we can learn in a safe and healthy environment and that's so I really appreciate you being back on the committee and being able to see how they function and to see all the stakeholders there and I just know this is we are a village and it takes village just grateful for that. >> Thank you Mrs. Malice. >> Thank you Mrs. Malice. Maybe we should get you on the budget committee so you can

052help people figure out how to work for $35. I think >> an empty room for $35. >> Yes. [snorts] >> Well, you did a great job for $35. [laughter] >> I attended several meetings uh since the last board meeting. I want to thank Mr. Russ for coming to our educational foundation board meeting last night uh to help our foundation board members understand the initiatives that are currently in place in the district and so that as grants are proposed uh the foundation board members have a basis for seeing how it might fit into the district's initiatives and efforts [clears throat] coming they appreciated energy associated put it in and I it gives a good feeling for for the the u uh the culture of the district and how how people uh who enjoy their work and

053and participate actively can uh can thank you very much. The uh uh I attended with uh Mr. Blowers the uh audit committee meeting just a a couple comments on that. they they've been focusing on um a couple of different areas to uh uh to work on the process for uh how funds are uh are handled. And one of those areas is in the uh claims auditor and and we have a new claims auditor as of about a year ago. And we've been [clears throat] working to uh uh to uh uh develop a process where the claims auditor will come and report to the audit committee and subsequently to the board of education so that you can see with regard to how that particular aspect of auditing is handled. The other thing they've been working on

054the last year or so has been the process of for payroll. uh and uh again they they it's an area where uh where there's uh uh significant effort to make sure that it that it's properly done and it's as well uh well maintained and the um uh it is the largest expenditure. So having lumps in McCormack help us to monitor that process is a good thing. uh moving forward for next year, they're looking to um uh to to examine the process for employee expense reimbursement and for um food purchases in accordance with the healthy hunger-free kids act. So, I'll be curious to hear more about the healthy hunger-free kids act. That's one of my areas of interest. In addition to the audit committee, I attended the the f the um finance date, not finance, [snorts]

055facilities committee. Now, that's on the agenda in a minute or two, but I'd just like to uh bring up one particular area that the whole board is going to be interested in being involved in, and that is uh as you recall, we were unable with the amount of funds that were in the original approved budget uh to accomplish all of the things that were originally on the list uh to be done in this building to complete the renovations of the middle school. And so there there remains a listing of several areas uh that that continue to need improvement. And u and so they're currently working on getting quotes for several of those areas so that we can use whatever unexpended funds are are uh available uh after they know what the costs are for the

056currently the current project. and uh then the board wants to be involved in hearing what those potent potential new projects will be and and uh developing some process for prioritizing it and there are several other initiatives but we will leave that for the report the agenda. Thank you. >> Thank you m Mr. Brooks. Uh we are moving on to uh item 10. We have legislation Um, with that it's uh 7:58 and if you guys promise not to any of the seniors who are here meet your obligation uh for meetings. Uh you can leave. You don't have to but you can if you want to stay. This is really exciting. >> Just saying. bedtime. Great job. >> All right. >> Thank you to the rest of you for >> uh we are moving on to item

05711 reports and discussion items part two. Uh we have a presentation You have a difference. >> I do. Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you for that. >> Yeah. >> A little Can they see? Good. Can you see? Okay. Can you see? >> Great. Well, hello everybody. I'm Jackie Raby. um the middle one of the middle school health and physical education teachers and I have Tara McInley here with me tonight as well our adapted physical education teacher which is something this time around [cough] to get started um our focus for health and physical education in East [clears throat] Aurora is to provide quality instruction so that children can develop motor skills that will serve as the foundation for active lifestyles. We believe that children with competence and skills in positive f physical activity experiences will choose

058to be actively involved in recreational and leisure sports leading to health enhancing lifestyles. I always teach all of my students, you know, what's a long life? It's not healthy if you're not happy. So, we really promote that with everything we're doing here in health and physical education. We also believe that participation in physical education provides an opportunity for continuous development for each individual's physical, mental, social, and emotional capabilities in order to promote a healthy lifestyle. I'm going to start with Parkdale where we have now have UPK through grade 4. Um we have Molly Mclofflin, Mike Battle, and Rob G. And here we have some of our students and some of the activities that they're doing this year. Um at Parkdale, uh they've continued to talk about a spiral curriculum in which gross motor, fine motor,

059and sports specific skills are introduced, taught, and reinforced. And they do this for through a wide variety of ways. Um mostly game play and fun games to keep the students engaged. Um we also want to explore and expose the students to various activities [clears throat] that teach and reinforce sportsmanship, teamwork, and communication. Um, we want to introduce muscles and cardio exercise activities. I know they have a routine every day that they come to Fizzad to work on those areas. Um, some things they've done, they have a turkey trot. We also have the fun run. I didn't put that on there. Um, and field days. Again, uh, some of the suggestions Parkdale had, they just had mentioned that there's an HVAC system in the Parkdale gym and it gets a little bit loud sometimes. It can

060be a little bit hard to hear. Um, so they didn't know if that was something that maybe could be looked at. And really the only other thing they said it would be awesome to have um permanent paw prints in the gym because a lot of the structure of the fizz program down there, students come in, they sit at a spot and they're putting down these spots every single day. Um, but if they could be permanently on the floor, that would be awesome. [clears throat] Um, what's new again, we have prek now down at Parkdale. Um, I currently have a son in prek and he absolutely loves fizzed. So, it's really awesome that our prek gets to experience these activities. Um, we've now incorporated throughout the whole district our SEAL program, which is social emotional learning

061lessons. Um, some new fun games they've added with scooter blitz, sports relays, and comb pinball, which I'm not familiar with those games, but they look like a lot of fun. Uh, middle school physical education. Um, this is grades fifth through 8th. Um I'm down there now and we have Anna McTai who is also new since our last review and we have Walt McLolin as well. Um one of the things we have brought back in the last 5 years is swimming. For a while we weren't swimming and despite what any middle school student says um when it comes to free time after a lesson in swim to see the kids like like seventh and eighth graders playing mermaids, playing um sharks and minnows in the deep end. It really is fun. And I know sometimes they

062come home and that's not quite what's expressed, but what I see has been really awesome when it comes to swimming. Uh we see our students three times in a 6-day cycle. Uh we have a 3 to five week rotation of the activities that [cough] we're doing. One thing we've really brought back is cooperative games. Kind of coming off of co we felt like students were lacking some of those social skills, working together, teamwork. So, we're really trying to build that unit up um and working with kids. Also, team sports, aquatics, as I was saying, fitness, climbing wall. Um we've introduced dance now in the last few years and outdoor recreation activities. Some of our extensions, we've brought back field days. I think they weren't around for quite a few years. So, we do field day

063for fifth and sixth graders. We have intramurals after school. We have ball hockey, um, which is something we've teamed up with the Buffalo Sabres a couple years ago. They gave us all of the equipment. We have the hockey sticks, the helmets, everything we could need. Um, we play after school. We have a winning team. The winning team gets to go to Key Bank and play other area districts. This usually takes place in April and it's a really fun program and that's offered to our sixth through 8th graders. Um some of the suggestions we have at the middle school really the only thing we have is maybe in um future projects just some enhancements. I know this building's very old um and it's a lot but just some enhancements maybe to the locker room or to

064the gym space as well. Um new at the middle school like I said we have our ball hockey program. Uh swim is back our cooperative games our dance unit and then bringing back the fifth and sixth grade field days. We are certainly talking about extending that because I'm sure seventh and eighth graders [cough] love field days as well. Right. I'm gonna have Miss McInley talk about so at the high school there is Chris Selni Cindy Lucas which is formerly Sydney Sza. She just got married and Paul Rowski. [cough] Uh the high school units are taught co-ed mixed grade classes. They go to phys three times out of the six day cycles. Uh some of the electives they have are competitive PE, individual individual personal performance PE, team sports, aquatic activities, individual activities, fitness, recreational games,

065dance, and more are some of the topics that they are teaching up at the high school. Um, one of their suggestions is a bigger budget to replace broken and old items while having the ability to add equipment for some new units. And then what's new at the high school is they created this beautiful um small studio that was a part of the closet. They put a temporary wall up and they have been using it for yoga, TRX training and other kind of fun stuff they're doing. And I just want to add that was through a grant through the educational foundation which was a really awesome thing that they did to create a new space um up at the high school, a whole another teaching space. Uh next is adaptive PE. So adaptive PE is new

066here and I've had the privilege of being able to be a part of it. So, adaptive PE provides specifically designed instruction to meet the individualized needs and IEP goals while building fitness, motor skills, confidence, and lifelong participation in physical activity delivered across all three buildings. It's some classes are small group instruction in a separate location and then also inclusive PE with the genet students. Small class settings provide target skill development to build confidence, independence, and readiness. The goal of the small group setting is to eventually get them into the inclusive setting with their fellow peers. Um the inclusive PE allows students to learn alongside their peers with appropriate accommodations promoting social connections, peer modeling, and a sense of belonging. Um adapt to PE and inclusive PE specifically. It benefits all students not just the special

067education students by developing empathy, leadership, teamwork, and an inclusive mindset. mindset skills while learning to collaborate with peers of all abilities. Um, and then one suggestion for adaptive pees because it's a new program and it's spread across all three buildings is just to um be able to get some new adaptive equipment so we can better assist them into pushing into those inclusion classes with what they're doing. >> Question. Do you have adaptive PE in all buildings or just at the high school? >> Yes, in all three buildings. >> Wonderful. I'm going to take over for health education since that's my area as well. Um the goal of the Easter Health program is to provide students with the skills and health literacy necessary to make informed decisions. Essentially everything we teach I always tell the students

068could be a real life situation or a real life choice or a real life decision. Um so again the more you know the healthier choices you can make in life. Um, students are encouraged to achieve optimal health through recognizing health issues and applying preventative strategies to promote optimal wellness. By connecting academic content to real life scenarios, students understand the impact of personal choices and external factors on individual health and the overall health of the community. Um, so currently in our elementary schools, it's just taught by classroom teachers through programs such as Character Strong, which is our new SEAL education here. Um, and that goes through all three buildings. Um, but at the elementary level, taught by the classroom teachers. Um, at the middle school, myself and Anna McTai teach 5th through 8th grade, which is

069also new. There was [clears throat] not health for all four grades in the middle school, and now there is. We have a wonderful schedule that allows us to teach all of the grades. Um our health skills, we're talking about advocacy, goal setting, communication skills, stress management, relationship management, and decision-m. Um our units are nutrition, physical fitness, mental emotional health, social health, drug education, and human development. And then new is our character strong program which takes kids through a series of lessons um that kind of help build on those social skills, that emotional component, working with other people, how can you handle like a conflict. Um it's really been an awesome program and honestly I would say throughout the whole building, everybody's really doing a great job with it's really kind of um taken off. So

070that is our health program and it's great that Anna and I work together because we're able to kind of like okay this is what I'm doing in fifth grade. We were hired at the same time. So we've really built on to the curriculum um and have like a nice flow and a nice sequence to what we are teaching now at the high school. Oh this is one of our favorite projects we do. Um we do healthy food trucks where the kids after their nutrition unit they have to design a menu and create a food truck. But the goal is it has to be healthy. So take a food they love, maybe it's pizza, maybe it's burgers, put a healthy spin on it. They build these mini models of trucks, they do the menus, they present

071them. Um it's really a fun project that we do at the middle school. And then as for high school health, we have um Paul Rauski and Sydney Magnus that are currently our health teachers at the high school. And usually it's a state mandate. It's a statemandated course for 20 weeks and you usually take it as a sophomore, sometimes a junior, sometimes a senior. Uh the units that they do are mental health, decision making, handling emotion, stress, stress relief. Then they talk about body systems, muscular, skeletal, cardiovascular, and effects, choices of exercise. And then again, nutrition, just a little bit more in depth than what we do at the middle school. Food choices, nutrients, calories, label reading, and supplements. They also talk about reproductive health, decision-m, STDs, physical, emotional aspects, and then drugs and alcohol decision-m

072effects on the body and current trends, current things that we're seeing in our community or in the area. And then looking into the future, um, one thing we've talked about at our meetings is we would like to better align our program across levels to improve skills most so more so from a physical education standpoint to make sure like, okay, I'm in the weight room with seventh and eighth graders. I want the high school to know what I've covered so they're not spending a week week on teaching a proper squat or something like that. So again, just needs time, more time together to work on that. And then we've also talked about it would be awesome to have an elementary health education teacher. Um some districts do have that and sometimes it's just one day a

073cycle they pop into a classroom. Um just to kind of really build up on our health education. Um again this district has been wonderful when it comes to supporting physical education, health and wellness. Um I think it's always been that way. So we appreciate you listening to us. um tonight and if you have any questions feel free to ask. >> Thank you very much. Good [clears throat] question. >> I just uh does the health curriculum in any way um incorporate with respect to social media that's addressed in business. >> Yes, I just finished up a unit on social health and that's one of the things that we address social media being safe online and kind of how students now have a digital profile. some of them since they were little with pictures online. And we

074just um talked about all the ways to keep yourself safe and how you're using social media and what that means for things you could have done 5 years ago. So, yes. >> And the only other question, anything on gambling? Is that anything that's discussed in any of the health classes? >> No, I haven't. Nope, I don't have as far as I know. maybe the high school, but as far as I know that >> only because you read how it's really a lot of younger people are getting easy access because of the social media. So that's why I wondered if there's anything >> that's a great point. >> Another thing to add >> questions from the cheap seats. >> Awesome presentation. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. We are moving on to uh yeah,

075so we had a a capital facilities meeting uh last week and project is moving along nicely. It's um pretty much on track. We've run into a few issues um especially as we uncovered the uh the ceilings in the um um but there were some issues that they thought were going to be more significant. Actually they turned out to be smaller than originally thought. So uh they kept the cost down. So we're really grateful for that and they really think things are moving on uh on schedule and we should be ready to go uh as we approach the summer into the fall. So that's that's good news. Um you can see in in the library the walls are put up. Um [clears throat] same thing with the um family and consumer science. Uh things are moving

076along nicely. They they had some issues with the flooring uh that they they fixed and we passed that. So that's all going well. Um the the hallways will be done uh once school is out. Uh they'll be tearing the flooring out and ceilings and those types of things. So that'll happen after the kids leave. Um yeah, so we're moving on nicely. I think one thing Dan mentioned is probably the the next thing that we need to attend to as a as a group um is just the idea that there are some monies that will hopefully be left over and some of those alternates will be able to be accomplished. So Steve's going to be working with um Buffalo [clears throat] Construction in kind of uh determining what that exactly looks like over the next probably

077uh four to six weeks. So we'll give back some opportunities or options uh for for the board to look at and our suggestion kind of next steps what types of things we can get finished decisions on the alternative. So that doesn't slow down anything to do at this point. >> No, it shouldn't. Yeah, it shouldn't. Um what we're going to do is um so because we don't know exactly what the money will how it is. So it's going to have to be kind of timed as the project is moving forward. And so like one of the projects is finishing the hallway. Um so all the hallways can be completed except the hallway by the business office and towards the superintendent's office. And so um that would be one thing that we would consider if we

078want to complete So, all the four exits, there's another alternate uh for the uh the the uh uh west gym, you know, so to to replace the padding and some of those types of things. So, those are the things that if they'll say, "Hey, we have this much money left. these are the things that we can do and we'll discuss them at the facilities committee and then we'll bring people to to to the work discussion and they're they're in separate locations from where the work is currently occurring and where the work will occur in the summer. So if if uh the board decides to move ahead with some of these uh alternates uh it won't interfere with the work other part of the moon. But the for me the the pleasure of coming to these

079meetings and seeing these uh the progress uh is uh my desire from from many years ago to see the middle school uh be completed. And this is going to get us pretty close to that. you know, there there's just a few things that that we wish we could have done that probably won't happen, but but uh but we're getting very close, you know, and and so uh we we'll end up with three very well cared for buildings uh that have modern uh amenities and uh and the middle school, which has sometimes been a stepchild, will have the newest. I don't miss the duct tape on rugs. >> We'll have any more of that. >> The library is going to be pretty spectacular. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Frost. Moving on to the business office.

080Uh, Miss >> Yes. I have nothing to report tonight. Um, we will have our financials at the next meeting. Thank you very much. Uh, moving on to item D. We have a preliminary budget presentation and budget. Okay. Um so, uh we're going to continue on with the development of school district budget for So, here's our agenda. That looks long, but it shouldn't take us too long to get through it. Some of it's we're going to just we keep things on from previous meetings just to kind of continue to share with the public, you know, where we were and where we're headed. Um, so again, the values and vision, this is, you know, kind of the driving force behind everything that we make. Um, and, uh, it's really helped us. I think it helps us to

081stay focused especially right now. You know, we talked about this a really typical budget season. Um things are somewhat unpredictable. Uh we haven't gotten a lot of information from the state yet. So, you know, we're trying to um um kind of build this without having all the information that we need. So, it's been a challenge and we know that money is tight and you know, the funding from the state at this point in time is pretty short. So, it's it's all led to some really um good but some challenging and difficult conversations at times. So, here's the adopted revenue budget. Um again, we went over this uh for for this year. Uh you can see it was about a 3 93% increase. Um and that kind of ties out to uh the appropriation budget. Uh

082which is also $46,8,860. Uh again, we we're looking at the projected tax levy limit uh calculation for 2627. Uh and it's it's pretty similar to this year. Last year uh for 20 for this year 2526 was 3.3 uh 39%. And the projected uh cap for 2627 is 3.36. Uh uh Miss George goes through this calculation and there's a few variables that change from year to year and that's what influences um um our uh tax uh cap limit. Uh, one thing that's helped us is our the tax based growth factor. There's been some growth in the community. So that helps us in terms of a reasonable uh tax increase. Um, so here it is the stadium runs. Um, so you know, we get like some preliminary information in November. Um, but like January comes, governor comes

083out with her proposed budget. Uh and one of the um highlights of that was actually expansion of UPK um um program funding and we'll talk a little bit about that later on the history of UPK where we were and where we are today. Then we just got our update uh just uh this week or in the last couple weeks, excuse me, uh in terms of aid projections. [clears throat] Um and that's also partly reflected in this presentation. And unfortunately um we just got word that like they're not projecting an ontime budget again this year. Uh the governor said that there's a lot to to accomplish. So that's not a top priority. Uh so that does make it difficult for us to plan without that that solid information. Um so here it is the governor's and

084then the February update. Um so this is uh where we are today. So we got a bit of additional information and so we can see here um you know foundation aid was right around $80,000. We're going to see the transportation aid a little over $45,000. Um, building aid, we got some good information, uh, good news about, uh, building aid. Um, so we see, you know, our debt service is going up, but fortunately, our looks like our building aid is going to be coming in stronger than anticipated. So those kind of things should offset. So that that's a good thing. Uh, so that's good news. Um, Bose aid uh is up, but we also are spending more, and I'm going to talk about that in a minute, too, in terms of projected expenditures for next year.

085Um, so um, and the UPK grant, you can see there, that's the big one. It's going from 485,000 to up to $840,000. So, it's about $10,000 per student, which really is a big help because what that does is um we've been pulling uh from the general fund to make that program work around $140,000. And so, this new funding should help us to um be able to restore that to the general fund, which is which is really very good news. >> Mr. Russ, can I can I stop you right there at that point just so so we don't have to backtrack? Yeah. Uh we heard uh reported earlier that there were 90 students uh uh registered for uh UPK and u and that we have a community partner perhaps who may be providing some of these

086services. Uh so currently [clears throat] we have five classes. Uh the the uh and and 18 per class is the maximum. Okay. So, is there any possibility based on these numbers that we just heard for a sixth class, in other words, could could the community partner uh be uh or an agency that puts an additional class into the program so that we won't have a waiting list like we had this year? >> Yeah, that that's the hope. Um so, we were we were uh grateful to get somebody who was interested and and that's exactly what would happen. So, um the grant is set up that we um are like required to share the resources and so since they stepped up and if we get more than the 90s because our that's our limit here for

087the five that would allow us to set up a sixth class uh with uh the uh the program and then um hopefully all the way up. So, so the 90 that you mentioned, is that what we currently have of of families interested for next year? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> So, so in other words, at this point in time, if every one of those people were accommodated, it would be five classes of 18. Yeah. So, so if anyone comes forward moving moving forward, then this additional class could possibly materialize. Yeah. Okay. I can now I understand. Thank you. >> Um so foundation um a so was at a business officials meeting and so there's 673 total districts in the state. And so uh this is kind of a disappointing news. 492 are in hold harmless.

088So that means they're going to get 1% under foundation aid and 181 are on formula. So 73% of the school districts are are in hold harmless and only 27% are on the formula. And so um this just like she says right here how broken the state aid formula is. So that's that's really disappointing. Uh we are hoping for for much more than that. And so you can see not only us but the vast majority of school districts are in the same boat as we are. you know, hitting 1% makes it really hard to plan, hard to move forward and hard to deal with inflation and all the other additional costs that were just really quickly on that during the uh previous year uh the Rockefeller Foundation had been asked to do a study on that

089and they had met the deadline which was remarkable. Uh but I don't believe I've heard anything with regards to implementation of the >> it's been very quiet and last year the study um cautioned the state not to cherrypick certain items [clears throat] out of their recommendations that it needed to be like a comprehensive change not just [clears throat] change this one thing or change that one thing. >> I have nothing this year. I haven't heard anything. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing. [clears throat] >> Um, so, uh, here's here's another very interesting, um, piece of information, Miss George added to our presentation for today. Um, you can see at the top the actual property values from 2122 to the 26 27th school year have increased significantly. So, it's gone from 1 bill488,000

090uh to more than 2.2 billion. And I think uh what I when I looked at the percentage on that, I think it was about a 50% increase over over that period of time. Same thing for adjusted gross income went from 559 million uh to over 816 million. So, it's it's a considerable growth in all areas. And then you can see what has happened to our combined wealth ratio. It's gone from 0.965 all the way up to 1.217. And that is very significant. Um and that that wealth ratio has a direct impact on on the type of aid that we receive. And so then you can see on the pieces below that [clears throat] public excess cost aid, the private access cost aid, transportation aid, overseas aid. You can see that that has steadily declined over

091those years as well. And so we were up at just over over just a little bit past.5 for public access cost for example. Now we're down at 38. But you can see all of those those eight categories have decreased significantly over the last 6 years. Um the one thing that has stayed the same though is our building aid ratio. So that's really positive. So what that does is that's what impacts um our ability um to put together projects and we continue to be at 661. So for every dollar we spend we get about 66 cents back. And so that that's one positive piece. Uh and here it is as a bar graph. So, you know, if you want to look at it a little differently, you can see like um in the second graph with

092the multiple bars um two bars, the uh the combin ratio, you can see it escalating and you can see then the aid's just dropping off over time as well. So, you can see that that's part of the problem that we're having like why you know why our budgets become tighter and tighter is because our our aid ratios are getting smaller and smaller. >> Uh that they're declining. So that's what you know keeps making the budget tighter and tighter as we go year to year. Yeah. >> So projected revenues for 26.7 um you can see here like again >> um but like we start off with the calculations for the the tax cate. [cough and clears throat] Um you can see the the basic aid for foundation transportation and building that's going up by about 437,000

093which is uh again partly due to that additional building aid that we're receiving which is nice. Uh Bosey's aid has gone up too but we know our expenditures are going up as well and you'll see that in just a second. Um so that's that's kind of the picture right now that we have um for our revenues. Um and then if we look at the uh appropriations again we haven't been able to fill this in. hoping for the next March meeting that this will be um more completed salaries and fringe benefits, those types of things. We just haven't been able to get to it. But one thing we've been able to realize is that we're hoping to pull back on equipment by about $100,000. So that's going to help to kind of close the gap that

094we're looking at. Uh so we've been working hard on that and that's partly related to [cough] that we're going to be coming out of the budget. We're able to pull that back by about $100,000. So, uh, you can see here though on the other side of that really significant increase in BOSIES of about five at this point in time about $586,000 that's related to a variety of programs that we have with Boseies. We're going to take a look at that again to see what we can do to tighten that up. Um, so I'll be working with the administrators on that over the next couple of weeks for our our presentation later in March. And then the uh debt service, again, debt service is going up, but we're also seeing an additional um funding increase. So

095those things will hopefully offset each other. Uh so again we always talk about appropriated fund balance. We got to make a decision around what that looks like. And so the appropriated fund balance for for 24 uh 25 to 2526 was about $77,000. You know, and you can see that it's increased steadily over time, but you know, the budget gets larger. Appropriate fund balance gets larger. But we said, you know, we're getting probably to a point where we need to pull that back or slowly increase, you know, that kind of thing. So, we're just have to think. Um, again, the capital project, you know, we're going to be working on our camera system. So, we're really pleased that this will work out and it'll be focused at the middle school and we'll be talking about like

096some upgrades, uh, devices and licensing and those types of things. So, we're working out the details of that. Again, we're projected to uh use about $75,000 out of the technology reserve, and that's something that we have to put up as a um uh we have to ask the public uh for permission to use the reserve. So, that would be on uh the ballot as well along with the with the vote for the budget and the vote for board members. And then here's just a brief timeline. Uh you'll be interested in it for for preK. Um uh again, so targeted prek started way back in 1966 and then uh universal prek came on board around 1997. Um like uh 24 and uh excuse me 2014 and 2019 statewide pool day prek kind of came on the

097scene and you can see all the things that have happened over time. Um and and where we are today is actually at the bottom. We started in the 20 uh 2022 to 2026 group uh where our allocation was about $5,400 um per students and that was that wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to to to so we had to supplement it with general funds. But now the governor's proposal with a $10,000 allocation which is really great makes us whole. And then the full implementation of of of of prek for the state is um set to go into effect on 28 29. So, they're going to support us with enough funding to provide prek for every person who wants and so um looking forward to that. And they're doing some work down the state um where they're

098actually looking at 2year-old and three-year-old programs in New York City. Uh and that's like I guess standard for the state, but you know, you start working with 2-year-olds, it's it's more about child care than it is actually preschool. So, it's a different element and we would have to be prepared for it. We would need a new building. So I think that's a little ways off for us. So um you know >> let's see how it works out. [clears throat] >> So um uh so the budget development um yeah so here's just some of the things that we know already. You know we know what our our our tax levy cap is. Um governor's is going projection is about um $150,000 more than this year. Um uh let's see what else there's. Yeah, there's a $107,000

099increase to our projected electricity costs for next school year. Uh the TRS rates and ERS rates, one's going down, which is really nice on the TRS side, but unfortunately um the opposite is happening in the RS. It's going up by about a little over a point. Uh so those are some of the things we know. We're still waiting for a lot of this information and unfortunately it's slowing time and here we are. And so we're um we're on the March 4th date and uh we'll have another public workshop on the 18th and then again on the 1st of April um next uh school district budget property tax report card. So we don't have a lot of time between now and then. So we're going to have to keep moving quickly and there'll be some decisions

100that we have to make whether we have information from the state or not. If they don't pass the budget, we have will have to make those decisions and just move forward with the job with the best of our with everyone else. That's it. >> All right. Thank you very much. Uh I'll start over on our east end tonight and see if we have any questions or comments. Mr. >> East is east and west is west. So I I'm east. >> You are east. Yes. Sun rises up that way. >> Okay. U the the only question I have is when you expect to be able to fill in this one with all the holes. [clears throat] >> Hopefully the next time hopefully the next meeting those will be >> Yeah, that's all we have. Um, I

101thought it was really interesting and helpful uh this the new information we had just with the charts for the aid ratio over time just to really see uh these changes and how this is really impacting us as a district overall in terms of uh you know how this is all out. And then I just had a quick question. It says um on page nine, do not receive aid for nond district pupils on the preceding. >> All right. Thank you. >> Dr. Um the only one I have is the so the May 6 is the public hearing when the community can come in and ask you preliminary estimates on a bond percentage for the project that's going on right now. >> Um I can get that. I haven't gotten that theability of the project currently. We

102were shooting for 95% but I think it's probably going to be higher than that. >> Right. It's um the maximum cost allowance at the high school and the unatable portion for the site work is what is going to impact that aidability rate. >> Yeah, that's something that you can get. Sure. That would be great. >> Yeah, I can ask Rick Nancy. [clears throat] >> No, go ahead. I I just had one question on the uh the changes in the TRS and ERS knowing that the the the percentages one's going up, one's going down, but what's that mean on a dollar amount? Uh because I assume that they are not at the same >> correct. I don't have that information yet. That's tied to salaries. uh they're still going to go up because salaries are going

103up. Even though the >> right, >> you know, the multiplier goes down, it's still going up because the salaries are going up. >> But the but the one the the TRS is is >> bigger >> typically higher >> higher than the ERS. Correct. >> And that was my understanding. I just wanted that clarity and appreciate that. >> So yeah, so the reduction on the DRSI will be more impactful than the increase on the year. Yes, but they're both going right slower. >> Nothing ever goes down. >> Um, all right. Thank you very much. And I agree with uh Mrs. Daniel. I appreciate seeing the um the uh the the changes on the aid. >> Yes, it shows as our combined [clears throat] combined um wealth ratio goes up, all our other aids go down. That's

104a lot. 1.2 up from 1.1, but that that's a drastic amount. 1.2 that's one of the wealthier districts other than Long Island probably, >> right? Which has a direct impact on how much aid we get. >> Changes in that there are big changes in the >> I have one more point if you >> please do. Yeah. >> Uh Dr. I'm proud of you. You you mentioned the hearing uh and sometimes there's misconception that that meeting in May is the time for the only time for community members to express their opinion with regard to the development of the budget. Frankly, it's too late at that meeting. That's the the meeting at which the budget is presented. That will be voted on a couple weeks later. And so it's important for community members to realize if they

105would like to have input in the creation of the budget and the time to come is the next couple of meetings, sign up to be a speaker, sit at the table and tell us your point of view. So that that's that's kind of important because I I can still remember a family wanting to come to uh that hearing with the idea of something that they thought was really important for their child. and it was just too late, you know. Uh, so so come come early here. >> We used to do forums too. You remember doing forums where they could come in and input broke down into groups and what have you. That was useful >> this year. >> And then another opportunity is the survey uh to get uh to get their feedback in. We

106did it last year through thought exchange and doing it again this year. And certainly uh we want everyone to urge the community to uh to complete those >> and through email as well concerns >> budgetary concerns. All right. Yes. >> Okay. And this will be available um the most recent will be available on the website. Thank you. >> Yeah. All right. Thank you all. Um, moving on to consensus meeting. Are there any items that a board member wishes to withdraw from consensus? Hearing none. Are there any items that a board member would like to add? Also hearing none. May I have a motion to approve the consensus agenda? >> Second. Second by Mrs. Malice. [clears throat] Discussion. All in favor? >> I >> oppose. Any extensions? Pass 70. We are fast forward to item 17

107on page 11. [laughter] Okay. Uh super the superintendent recommends the board of education perform the first reading to read the reading policies as detailed in the agenda. May I have a motion? Another move by Mrs. Janu. I'm Mrs. Wel. I'm sorry. Uh any discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Abstensions. And that's pass 70. Moving on to item B. Um, superintendent recommends board of education perform a first reading to readt uh the policies listed below. The first ones were section 3000. These are ones are EA 4000. Uh, may I have a motion? Moved by Mrs. Daniel. Second. >> Second by Mrs. Malice. Uh, any discussion? >> All in favor? I opposed extensions. That is passed. 70. We are. The superintendent recommends that the board of education approve the following novel for purchase. Uh the last hunger season,

108a year in an African farm community on the brink of change uh as detailed in the attachment. May I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Dr. uh second. >> Second by Mrs. Whitel. Uh discussion. >> Did the curriculum committee review this? Yes, we reviewed it before the last meeting. Um, >> the last meeting we had just met, but it didn't make that agenda, >> right? But it was it was a it's an excellent book that I think will be >> what level is it used in? >> They're going to use it in the um sustainable agriculture course. >> Oh, that's wonderful. >> Yeah. >> Oh, great. >> Very much. Um, >> all in favor? >> Opposed? extensions. That's pass 70. Item B, uh, superintendent recommends the board of education approve the resolution,

109the attached resolution, uh, authorizing the transfer of funds in the amount of $65,7458 from the tax certiary reserve business general moved by Mr. Blau. Second >> Second by Mrs. Danu. Any discussion? >> Do we do this every year or is this a year because it was so high >> year that it's so high? But um I'll keep watching. I won't actually use the reserve, but now if I need to, I can. >> Rules and regulations on how to use it or how long it can be without renewing. >> Yep. Yep. There are >> obviously within that time frame. Uh all in favor? >> Opposed? Extensions. That's passed 70. Uh we are moving on to item 19, new business where we during agenda changes talked about uh adding three items. Uh uh item a uh superintendent

110of this board of education nominate Chris Stars uh to appear as a candidate in the Erie 2A karagas post uh member election um as detailed in the agenda. May I have a motion? >> Moved by Mr. Plower's second by Mrs. Danu. Discussion. >> These are uh three our incumbents currently. Thank you. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstension. And that is pass 70. Item B. Uh the superintendent recommends board of education nominee Jeff Chase uh to appear as a candidate in the Erie 2 Chicago categorized posties board member election as detailed in the agenda. May I have a motion moved by Mrs. Malice second by discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? abstensions. That's pass 70. And items uh superintendent recommends board of education nominate David Lowry to appear as a candidate in the

111Erie to August Boseies board member election. I have a motion moved by second by Dr. Back discussion all in favor. >> Opposed extensions and that's pass 70. Thank you all for that. Uh are there any board members who wish to any other business to the board? Uh item 20 uh we have our list of upcoming meetings uh including our next regulator schedule board education meeting for March 18th. Um, and moving on to item B, we have the, uh, list of upcoming workshops and conferences, uh, including the aforementioned prospective school board member workshop at ECASB on the 28th. I too, uh, would recommend anyone who is, uh, considering, uh, running to join to to attend them. It is extremely insightful. Um, moving on to item 21. Uh, may I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Moved

112and this is Danny. A second. >> Second by Mrs. Whitel. Discussion. I just want to thank everyone again. Want to point out that one of the values uh supporting tonight. Uh David Lowry has a birthday uh coming up Friday. Uh in case anybody is in contact with him or or knows him uh wish reach out and wish him a happy birthday. uh Miss Sullivan uh shared with uh via email that she's trying to get a a birthday card uh avalanche at his house uh uh just to uh to wish him well and uh I thought that was a very uh all in favor of adjournment I >> opposed abstensions and that is passed and 70 and we are adjourned. Thank you.