001Good evening and welcome to tonight's uh board of education meeting. We start every meeting with the pledge of the flag. So if you'll join me al 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 for everyone that's here tonight. Um I'm filling in whilst uh Mr. Johnson is enjoying some well-deserved time away with family tonight. Um so we're going to start off tonight with the approval and adoption of the agenda. Um the adoption of the consent agenda. Upon motion, a second um affirmative vote, we accept the agenda. So, we have um hopefully a a tight agenda tonight with uh personnel and new business all in consent. Does anyone willing to bring that to the
002table? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Um next up, we have um our first opportunity to hear from the public. Um the board has reserved this time. >> Oh, sorry. We have to go down. Thank you. A little help from my friends. I appreciate that. Yes. Can we can we uh um approve the agenda? All in favor? >> I um so next on to hearing from the public. Um those wishing to address the board are asked to stand, give their name and address, and limit their comments to five minutes or less. Concerns or comments during this session should be directly related to the items listed on the proposed agenda for the meeting. Do we have anyone that would like to address the board tonight? No one from this wonderful crowd tonight really. Okay.
003>> Okay. So, moving on. Um approving the minutes from our last meeting. Um the regular meeting of November 4th, 2025. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Martin and >> Miss Gullo. All those in favor? >> I. Great. Moving on to our financial treasures report. Um we have the tax collectors report. Mr. Bors. >> Yep. Uh this is the report for the 25 26 school tax collection. We received 93.67% of our estimated levy which compares to previous years. We're generally in that 93 to 94% range. So thank you to the committee for that. I just wanted to thank Kathy Wright who used to be our tax collector a number of years ago who did a lot of the upfront work getting uh tax bills ready to
004be mailed. There were no significant issues other than we had some type of mail issue which seemed to be the general van and green crest van point area. I talked to a lot of people out there calling for the tax bill but everybody was pretty cool about that. So uh this will be submitted to the county after it's board approved. >> Any questions? Okay. Motion moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Marshall. All those in favor? >> I. >> Okay, moving on. We have some contracts with outside agencies to approve. We have a contract with Lakeshore Central School District for data privacy and security support. So, Dr. Zillian. >> Oh, yeah. You might remember this from last year. Um this is a service that um Lake Sheriff started providing um a year ago and um
005what they basically found is that a lot of the individuals that were coming into districts in the position of um data officer um needed a little bit of support. They happen to have a person with a high degree of expertise in this area. Um this represents a great bang for our buck for the district. um very small fee um for the monthly sessions that we get attached to it and it uh helps us manage this process and especially the reporting that needs to go back to New York State. So this has been very helpful and we're going to continue it in year two. >> Any questions or comments? >> Um could you Dr. Could you just speak to how this uh comes into play with like shared services and saving the district money? Do you
006know or a rough estimate what we would spend if we had to hire someone full time to do this or is that something that's easily >> I think the real advantage it gives us because we could we could be part of a coser or part of a service without someone being um in the district and and there's often times a disconnect. So I think the real advantage here is it keeps it inhouse but also allows someone to learn and grow um with some oversight and some mentoring. Um so that's the I think the real benefit to us and also um a larger savings with keeping it here um amongst our employees. So >> any questions in favor? have a second on >> second. >> All those in favor? >> Great. Okay. Um so moving on
007to personnel which we um approved in consent and new business also in consent. So we're right back to the public. Do we have anyone that would like to address the board? all these great students here. No comments, questions. Nothing even for your student reps. Thank you. >> Hi. Um Michelle Go of Fon Teachers Association. I live at 7849 Plank Road, Cherry Creek. Um, I just want to say today is um our day to recognize school related professionals and um our teacher aids, our custodians, our cafeteria workers, our secretaries, and I'm leaving out a whole whole bunch of them. They really um help this place run so smoothly. They keep our kids safe. They keep our um areas clean and uh they feed our kids and they hold their hands and they help them in so
008many different ways. So, um, the teachers association is so grateful for everything that they do. Um, and we just want to give a little public support for them, um, because they really are wonderful and we're so lucky to have the great people we have, um, who work for so little and do so much. So, thank you. >> Thank you so much for that. We agree that uh, we need everyone in the building to to get the job done. So, thank you for calling that out. Anyone else? Okay, Dr. Dillian. >> Uh, yeah, a couple items in the um superintendent report kind of piggybacking on uh Mrs. Greenhouse comments. Um, just to go back to our agenda, uh, we did approve two teacher aids probationary tonight, um, Laura Riddle and Janet Cruz. So, um, welcome to
009both of them. We're very excited to have them on board. Um, as green, Miss Green, I'll mention again just to touch on and I I missed exactly who she referred to, but we are talking about teacher aid or monitors, teaching assistants, school nurses, um, secretaries and clerks, custodians and cleaners, bus drivers andor monitors, food service, and also any security personnel. So, yes, it is school related professionals day and uh there were some emails floating around today recognizing people and some um gestures of appreciation, but we wanted to publicly here um tonight relay our thanks and appreciation for all that is done to keep the district running um smoothly on a day-to-day basis. um there's a lot of support given to um our students, our faculty, our administration, also our families uh through the number of
010these positions. So, thank you to everybody. We really appreciate you and hoping that a great day. Also, um on a note connected to um kind of our our building, um every once in a while we come across some items that Nick Petrando did recently. And if you go by our trophy cases down by the hallway um by the cafeteria going back to the tech wing going back to district office you'll see a number of things here that have been framed and hung on the wall and uh just some blasts from the past. Uh some sweaters, some jerseys um that are now lining that area in the hall. But I thought that was a nice gesture on Mr. Trando's part to make these things uh you know continue to have a life in our district rather
011than being in a box or somewhere closed away. So um a little recognition of the past uh along with our trophies in that area. So just FYI. Um also wanted to put out there that you might notice Mr. Tanelli is not here tonight. He is actually at a ceremony over at Boseis for the National Technical Honor Society. And we did a student recognized tonight, Natasha Kemp, who's in the criminal justice program, is being inducted to. So, congratulations to her and thanks for Mr. Exnelli um for making the ride over and uh hopefully we'll have a picture and some things to post on social media tomorrow. Um but congratulations to um the top ship. Also, um, on a not so upbeat note, um, I did want to recognize here tonight, um, the situation that occurred in
012Jamestown yesterday. Um, I've been in contact with their superintendent, Kevin Whitaker, and it's been an incredibly difficult time, uh, with the loss of a young student as a result of a b accident. So, we just wanted to take a moment to extend our deep sympathy to all involved, uh, parents, the family, um, and everybody else in the Jamestown community who's been impacted by this. Um, this has also caused us to think a little bit about our own procedures and protocols on our bus loops and potentially making some adjustments um, just in an effort make sure that we're keeping everybody as safe as possible at all times. um you know at moments we are dealing with some younger students um and as we found out things can happen. So we are taking a moment to reflect
013here but again want to extend our sympathy to everybody um in Jamestown as well. Um also wanted to um let everybody know that uh Mrs. Fortna, Mrs. Han and myself all attended a legislative breakfast um this past weekend in which our superintendents get together along with board members and really try to connect with local legislators and u make them aware of some of our concerns, some of the things that we're prioritizing some of the things that we um would like to see them keep in mind as they're interacting or eventually voting on different initiatives um across the county, across the state. Um, so that occurred this past Saturday at the White Inn. Um, I also wanted to take a moment to make people aware also of our conversations in the district continue um around our
014fundraising for athletics and booster club and we had a meeting last week to further that conversation. We're close to having a list of guiding principles that will kind of oversee um those efforts. which we have not had in place in the past and we think that'll be helpful and to offer some clarity, some transparency, some accountability and some communication around those efforts. So um more to follow um on that front. Uh similar also um coming up on December 9th, we have a board of education facilities meeting. We are going to be touring those areas that came up at a recent board meeting around accessibility. um and concerns in those areas. So, um our board uh committee is going to take a look at those areas firsthand. In the meantime, Young Wright is helping us review
015um those areas, re-examine those areas, and also bring forward some options for potential work that could be done. I also just wanted to um share I think some good news through our student reps and give you guys a chance to uh share some information with us tonight. So, thank you. >> So, um we want everyone to be aware that we're planning to present information about the seven habits at our next board of education meeting on December 9th along with some other members of the high school student body. Um, so we look forward to sharing the information. Then we also want to focus on some more good news across the district. Congratulations to the spectator for winning 11 awards, including best overall newspaper in the recent Empire State School Press Association competition hosted by the New
016House School of Public Communications at Syracuse. Uh, also congrats to the over 30 high school students who were inducted into the National Honor Society earlier this month. Congratulations to both Izzy Shakansky and Pietro Kavita as they qualified for the 2025 state cross country championships this past weekend. Congratulations to our girls tennis team who were league champs again this year. And congratulations to our winners of the CCAA girls swimming championships this year. They were Georgie May in the 50-yard freestyle and Brooklyn Smith in the one meter diving constitution. >> Congrats also to the following teams which all had playoff wins during the fall season. the girls varsity soccer, boys varsity soccer, and girls v varsity volleyball. Also, congrats to our varsity football team who ended their season strong with a 16-7 rivalry victory over Dunkerk. We
017also want to share congratulations to the Fredonia boys modified soccer team that finished their season with a 1211 record, taking the lead championship with a 3-2 victory over Southwestern in double overtime. Thanks to everyone who participated in our Veterans Day celebration earlier in the month. Thanks again to all our local veterans for their service, dedication, and commitment to our country. Congrats to three of our high school art students, Trilliam, Mason Dlo, Brooklyn Smith, and Kaylee Haida, who were selected to participate in the statewide art exhibit sponsored by the New York State Art Teachers Association. Congratulations to Jameson Vizookuski for being named Western New York PE Tech Student of the Month earlier this fall. Congrats again to our SCSD music department for being the 2025 recipient of the New York State School Music Association Presidential Citation
018Award, which is the highest and most competitive honor granted by this organization. Congrats to Claire McMerry Damato who was accepted as a member of the All State String Orchestra and Grant Abby who was accepted as a member of the All State Symphony Orchestra. This is a huge and rare honor for high school music students. And as you can see, we have a lot to be proud of during the first portion of the school year and we're looking forward to sharing more good news in the future. >> And who knew Grant would actually be here today? [Applause] nicely done. It's always nice to focus on some good news as part of our meeting. So, thanks for bringing those items forward and we appreciate it. Unless you have any questions or comments, that wraps up the superintendent's
019report. >> Well, thank you for sharing um all of that important information. Um a few announcements. Our next regular board of education meeting will be Tuesday, December 9th at 6 pm right here in the school library. Um, so we'll look forward and wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving holiday and a little bit of a break next week. Um, and we will see everyone back here in December. Um, but we'll give the opportunity of Miss Pameus if you'd like to kick us off tonight. >> Sure. Um, so I want to echo the thank you for school related professionals. They are absolutely integral to the functioning of all of our buildings. So, I mean, we we couldn't do what we do without them. So, I appreciate their flexibility, willingness to jump in whenever needed in a variety
020of different capacities. Um, so they are tremendously um utilized in our buildings. Um, also musical, the middle school musical preview is tomorrow. The highly anticipated show will then take place on Friday night and two shows on Saturday. So, the kids are always really excited to see all of their friends and their peers up on stage. It always drums up a lot of business, too, in ticket sales, so that's helpful. Um, and finally, just continuing with our attendance prizes. Now that we've started the second quarter, we've shifted the incentive and they're building chain links leading up to winter break. Um, still with some incentives built in there. Um, but it really is very motivating to the kids and they are um, you know, they're coming to school, which is the goal. >> Thank you so much.
021>> Thanks. So, today our elementary school students had the opportunity to hold um a real gold Olympic medal. It was kind of cool. And we actually had three of them in the auditorium today because we welcomed uh this individual named Adam Paige and he's a three-time Olympic gold medal winner at the Parah Olympics. He was born with spobipida. He's a local guy. Um and he brought uh his energy to the odd today. So he brought in like the sled that he sits on. The kids got to see that. They got to learn how you play um para hockey. He brought in the sticks. Um he passed the gold medals around. And then he also wrote a book called Adam's Way and it's about, you know, overcoming obstacles throughout elementary school and into high school and
022setting goals and working hard to achieve them. So he read that. He signed a few copies for kids and we wrapped them up. So it was a really good um and then some kids got to stay late and kind of pick up the the sled and shoot some hockey pucks and things like that. It was actually really cool. So it was really wellreceived. We had a lot of energy in the auditorium this morning and um you know it was touching but fun and there was a lot of energy. So, uh, that was a neat a really good opportunity for our kids. Um, and he worked he co-founded this thing called the Greater Buffalo um, adaptive sports and I learned that they have um, 30 wheelchairs that they bring to schools and they put kids in
023them for PE class and then they teach the kids how to play um, lacrosse and basketball. So, I said sign us up and they said let's make this happen after uh, the new year. So, I think it's kind of cool. So we'll keep that um relationship with this organization going. So that was fun. So it was really cool. And then um every year our fourth grade this time of year does their balloons over Broadway um thematic unit. They read the the picture book. Um it started with just like one or two teachers doing it. This year all of the five teachers in the fourth grade are doing this and they're branching out to our special areas. So today there was a collaboration between STEM and the fourth grade and they're um they're taking like balloons
024but they're adding like animatronics to them. So like the balloons are going to move um with little um robots that Mrs. Gay had for the kids. So we're kind of making this a really big thing this year which is great. And then lastly um you know our our teachers go above and beyond all the time and we have a little third grader um who was just diagnosed with lymphoma and he'll be out of school for the next couple of months. So, um, our teachers kind of rally together. So, Monday you'll see is, uh, courage for Carter Day. Everyone's encouraged to wear green and they're doing a little, um, collection for him and his family and we wish him well in this process. That's all we have. >> Thank you. >> So, um, just to tag
025along with what Mark said about Adam Paige, I wanted to thank Christy Leon who, um, really suggested him to us and was instrumental in helping us collaborate on that. So, thanks to Christie. Um, the cool school polar plunge is coming right up. So, that'll be Friday, December 5th at Wood Long Beach State Park. The Sorry, I got a bug flying around me. Um, the goal is to raise $10,000. As of four o'clock today, there was a little over 4,000 already raised. I'm sure that amount is higher at this moment. So, that's coming up. Um, you know, I reached out to staff for some news today to share. And speaking of cool, I thought it was very cool that two of our new teachers um wrote me back and they said, you know, one, Emily Dun,
026who just started last week, literally asked me to express her gratitude to the board. She said she's really glad to be here. She feels that her position is a great fit, and she loves being part of the friendly and helpful high school team. Likewise, one of our new middle school teachers, Chad Sen Koviaak, um noted how collaborative, supportive, and accepting his co-workers are. So, I thought that was really nice that that was um some input they wanted to share. I got some instructional highlights. Um Amanda Ken, who teaches middle school 1211, has recently done some lessons on tolerance, acceptance, and opportunities to make connections, as well as has used um she described some projects she did, but I will say they were very hands-on constructionist approaches to learning about the human body and the solar
027system. So, that was cool. Um, two of our instructional leaders, Lori Marks and Rihanna Kelly, uh, middle school and high school respectively, attended the first special ed forum last week, and they reported the time spent as energizing and worthwhile. And we were excited to have special education at the forefront um, as the focus for topics such as portrait of a graduate. And news from the elementary, Samantha Gambino has an 813 classroom and that group of students enjoyed some time with uh Kristen Thomasesky's classroom and Mimi joins garden club where they harvested, roasted, and shared some pumpkin seeds very widely. And Mrs. Gambino's group also enjoyed a trip to Home Depot just last week where they practiced some communication skills, social skills, collaborative skills among others. and we had an opportunity to tour the store and
028build many excavators and we had a great time. So, >> thank you. You're welcome. >> Say hi to so many of my former students. It's so great to see them here. It's good to see you guys. Um, so we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. Um, we are preparing for our friendship feast. I'm sorry, I'm losing my voice. Um, our friendship feast next uh week on Tuesday. Um, we have high school ambassadors coming. I think we have between 15 and 20 high school ambassadors that are coming over and we're going to have our first annual turkey trot at Weock which we're very excited about. We're having the kids dress up in costumes and do a couple laps around weak. So, it should be super fun just to really focus on. We're going to have a weak
029gathering prior to that talking about some of our habits that we're working on and then end it with some some fitness. Um, also I'm excited to announce that Sunni Ferdon Williams women's lacrosse team uh contacted me and are coming over to do some volunteer work. They need to do some community service. So um they want to come over and to spend some time at some of the students are already coming for some of their field experience placements. They've enjoyed their time there. So they've asked if they can come over and spend some time. So we approved them. Thank you for allowing them to come over um and spend some time with. And then um last but certainly not least, we have six teachers this week at the National Association for the Education of Young Child
030in Orlando, Florida. Um to top it off, Linda Kaminsky is presenting um at the national level on Saturday. And we're just all so very proud of her um and excited for her and just so glad that so many of our teachers could go participate at the national level. So pretty exciting week for them. It's very exciting and I I definitely appreciated your weak Facebook post for Linda which all of our teachers are incredibly wonderful but the response from the community was really was really wonderful to see that she and that was perfect right before she went to go present. So >> thank you. If there's nothing else, um we do anticipate the need to enter into executive session to discuss some personnel matters. Um so we will be entering executive session. Do I have a
031motion? So second first second. All those in favor? >> I Great. Thank you all. >> Y'all picked a good meeting tonight.