001We're missing people. Good evening. I'd like to welcome everyone to our Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 Board of Education meeting. If I could have everyone rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by board member like, followed by a moment of silence for our folks who are fighting over and um Iran right now, uh that'll be most appreciated. Thank you. 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 right, I'm going into 1.04 approval of the agenda. Uh before we approve the agenda, I'd like to remove um 11.1 or 01, the Audit Committee report. Um we want to put that on next month's agenda. Um is there any questions
002concerns on amending the agenda [clears throat] to add to remove that? No? Okay, can I get a motion then to bring the amended agenda? Mr. Butler? Mr. Buonagurio? Questions, comments, concerns on the agenda? No? All those in favor? All right, that passes 6 to 0. All right, student leader comments, Arcadia High School. Welcome. Hello. Come on up. >> [applause] >> Good evening. I'm the proud principal of Arcadia High School, Christina Orsiniak. We have a proud team here before you that really are going to highlight our four pillars of stride, thrive, elevate, and legacy. I'm going to turn it over to our community schools personnel to introduce herself before the kids get started. Hello. Oh. Hello. Hello. Say hi. Hi, I'm Tiffany Sorrels. I'm the community school site coordinator, of course, at Arcadia High. Um one
003of my focus this year was creating a student face team, aka my Titan links. And it's been so exciting because those students have have the opportunities to be leaders in our building. They drive the engagement, the school culture, and attendance. And honestly, I feel like they are the heartbeat behind the energy that you'll see on the slides. Um Yeah, that's it. And of course, I'm lucky to have my phenomenal parent coordinator who supports the work. Hi. >> [applause] >> I am Elise Cardarelli. Um I am the parent coordinator at Arcadia High School. And my passion is to have um student and family engagement at our school. And that's my role, and I love what I do. And I'm going to introduce you to Mr. Hilburger who does Titan TV. Hello. I'm Mr. Hilburger. Nice to
004see you all again. Hello. I get to come back every year and see you guys. It's my favorite day of the year. And it's giving a meeting at Hilton tonight, so that makes it even better. Uh but enough about me. I love working with these kids. I'm proud to work at Arcadia. And as soon as uh Joe's ready here, Mr. Swats, uh we are going to turn it over to the kids. Um but I do encourage you, board members, uh when you do have time, there's a lot of videos embedded in the slideshow uh that document what's going on at Arcadia and really tell our story. So, when you have time on your own, uh please go back and watch some of those videos. But, let's turn it over to the kids. >> [applause] >>
005But, maybe maybe I should introduce them first. So, we have Maddie and Nadia. >> Hi. Hi. Who are two media anchors in Titan TV. They're also the star of our musical. Uh then we have Shaylin over there who is a behind-the-scenes wiz on Titan TV. She was also in the musical. Seth, big part in Titan TV, ran the lights at the musical. Then we have Davious and Matt over here that will be the producers and the and the interviewer that you'll see in some of the videos if you go back and watch them. Uh then we got Bella, who's our behind-the-scenes young lady who will be advancing the slideshow. She works behind the scenes a lot of Titan TV with the cameras and the teleprompters and stuff like that. And I think we need Mr.
006Swats again. So, we got Are they locked out? We need the Wizard of Oz. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. At Grace Arcadia, our road to excellence is built on four pillars: stride, thrive, elevate, and legacy. As a community school, our building is a hub where every student is supported and every success is celebrated. But at Arcadia, the students are the driver are in the driver's seat. Groups like Titan links, student government, and Titan TV aren't just clubs. They are the architects of our school spirit. Tonight, we are proud to show you how we lead, serve, and tell the story of Arcadia. Every journey needs a foundation, and ours is family engagement. We turned our building into a community [snorts] hub starting with the back-to-school bash that we saw an incredible 90% attendance rate from
007our families. This success is driven by our FACE team and our newest student-led group, Titan links. While staff supports the implementation, Titan links is the voice behind the work, designing, promoting, and leading incentives to ensure everything we do is student-centered. Titan links give us a seat at the table to plan events that shape our culture. Following the bash, we hosted our first on-campus Titan tailgate and our Titans giving. The response was overwhelming, and both are now official annual traditions. It proves that we when it students lead together, our community shows up. We believe engagement is the foundation of Titan pride. That's why we celebrate our community through Titan tickets, the currency of our culture. These provide tangible recognition for students who embody our core values: stride, thrive, elevate, and legacy. Teachers reward academic and behavioral
008excellence in real time, empowering students to purchase their own rewards, whether shopping at the Titan store or joining events like the Arcadia Arc- Arcade or staff versus staff games. Sponsored by community schools and supported by Titan links, these tickets turn daily positive choices into meaningful community experiences. Because Titan links design helps design these events, they reflect our true statement voice. Our true student voice, excuse me. Uh this is where the heart of our community is on full display. Go Titans. If Titan tickets are our currency, the Titan store is our central hub. This is where students' dedication becomes tangible as they spend hard-earned Titan tickets on school gear and exclusive rewards. This is a true community effort led by Titan links. These student leaders manage the state storefront, assisting peers and collecting tickets in a
009student serving students model that builds real ownership. Supported by our community schools resource, the Titan tickets is a high-energy hub that empowers every student to take their stride, begin to thrive, elevate their peers, and a legacy of excellence. Our monthly incentives are a heartbeat of the school year. Supported by community schools, these aren't just events. They are high-energy celebrations of our culture, from December's cocoa bar to February's Arcadia Arcade. Titan links acts as the architects behind the scenes, curating the calendar to ensure every incentive is student-led. Whether it's a staff versus staff game or a sing for a slice, these moments are how we like to say thank you to our peers. By rewarding the work, we celebrate those who stride, thrive, and elevate within our community, leaving a legacy that we can all be
010proud of. These images capture our staff versus staff series events our students look forward to all month long. By live streaming these competitions, Titan TV transforms a single game into a shared building-wide celebration. We are especially honored to have Superintendent Smalley and Dr. Baker join us on the sidelines last year. Their presence showed us showed our students that the entire district values our Titan spirit. It's about more than the scoreboard. It's about student-led interviews and it's true school-wide connection. This digital broadcast ensures that every student, regardless of where they are are in the building, can participate in our culture first hand. And you don't have to wait long to see it in action. This Thursday during CAP, we are hosting our staff versus staff basketball game. Our media students will be putting their real-world skills
011to the test, handling everything from camera work to live streaming logistics, and to bring that game to your screens. By using technology to bridge the gap between the court and the classroom, we prove that at Arcadia technology and tradition go hand in hand. We'll see you on the air this Thursday. Today we are defining what it means to be a Titan. We are proud to align with the Superintendent Smalley's vision through our Arcadia proud framework. This initiative turns pride into a shared language of success, ensuring every member of our community sees themselves in our story. Our roadmap, Titan stride, legacy, elevate, and thrive guides us how we celebrate every student's journey. From personal growth to academic innovation, Arcadia proud shows that here we build excellence together every single day. Titan stride honors the journey. We
012celebrate every student who shows up daily to make consistent progress towards their goals. Whether mastering a technical skill or conquering a tough lesson, we see your persistence in these photos. We believe small daily improvements lead to massive success, ensuring every Titan knows their hard work is essential to our story. Titan thrive focuses on our three A's: academics, athletics, and the arts. We're here to celebrate everything from 4.0 GPAs to game-winning shots. A perfect example is our athlete athlete of the week's series. We recently featured junior captain Brandon Owens' dominant performance against Athena, which you can watch via the link in this deck. While we can't play the clip now, it highlights our how our media team captures these big wins. Ultimately, Titan thrive is about setting a standard of excellence and giving every student a
013plat- platform to show the world what they can achieve. Titan thrive also highlights the staff who makes excellence possible. Our What's Up With Worziniak series features a pillar of our art department, Mrs. Worzinger. More than a teacher, she is a mentor. Her student, Gianna, calls her one of the peo- people who can always she can always turn for for support. This is what it looks like when staff goes above and beyond. We've linked the full video in this deck so you can see the heart of our art department in action. Mrs. Worzinger dedi- Mrs. Worzinger's dedication perfectly shows that at Arcadia, excellence is a true collaboration between students and their teachers. Finally, our Titan legacy initiative honors the lasting impact of this community, from our seniors to our alumni. We're highlighting alum Said Bensalama, who
014credits Arcadia's educators for helping him navigate his toughest personal hurdles to become a GCSD professional. Said's story proves that our school's support stays with your you for life. You can watch his full interview via the link in this presentation. It's a perfect example how our culture creates a legacy that lasts after graduation. Finally, Titan elevate is our collective call to action. It's about how we collaborate to lift each other up. I took a mic to the cafeteria to ask, "What is something good that has happened today?" These small moments remind us that elevation starts with kindness. Seeing how these small wins transform the energy in the room inspired our latest video project linked right here. Because at Greece Arcadia, when one of us rises, we all do. I encourage you to watch this segment to
015see the true heart of our student body. >> [cough] [cough] >> Titan thrive thrives in energy corner of our school. We embedded additional segments here celebrating the passion and grit of our students in the arts and athletics. From our performing artists to our athletes, these videos highlight the diverse talents of the students finding their win every single day. Titan TV ensures that every achievement, whether on stage or on the field, is celebrated by our entire community. We invite you to watch these full features via the links in this deck to see the diversity that makes Arcadia thrive. Titan thrive is also fueled by our staff. Our Titan TV crew launched the What's Up With Worziniak series to celebrate the teachers who pour their hearts into our success. We take cameras into our classrooms to surprise
016staff with public shout-outs like honoring Mrs. Williams' energy to Mrs. Searles' sup- constant support. These moments capture the heart of our building. They prove that when our staff feels empowered, the entire community rises. We invite you to watch these these surprising moments via the links in this presentation. As we conclude, remember that the road to excellence at Greece Arcadia is driven by students. We are the creators, the storytellers, and the leaders of this culture. Through stride and thrive, we celebrate our daily persistence and our greatest achievements. Through elevate, our media team captures the heartbeat of our halls, and through legacy, alumni like Said show us that our Titan grit carries us for a lifetime. We aren't just a school, we are a student-led movement. We are the next generation of Titan leaders. Thank you for
017your time, your vision, and your support for our Titan community. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Titan leaders. Um could we have you come up here with uh the administrators and whatnot that you have and have a picture with the board? >> [clears throat] [laughter] [applause] >> All right, moving on to 1.06, board recognition. Tonight, the Board of Education is proud to recognize a group of students who demonstrated extraordinary leadership, composure, and courage during a real-life emergency situation. On February 9th, students from Odyssey Academy were participating in their weekly ski trip when Milo, a ninth-grade student, was injured in a fall. Milo was briefly unconscious and had temporarily lost feeling in his lower extremities. In that critical time, Odyssey students Trevor Day, Angela Huang, and Joe Prisk, who are enrolled in the district's Responding to Emergencies
018career pathway program, and fellow Odyssey students Liam Bedard, uh Caden Griffin, Caden Aliya, um Allison Viola, Violet Auto, and Kimberly Van immediately stepped into action. They quickly assessed the situation and worked together with remarkable focus and maturity. They protected their injured classmate by positioning them um towards themselves uphill to warn approaching skiers to go around, preventing further harm. They ensured Milo's cervical spine remained immobilized, helped keep those nearby calm until professional help arrived, and assisted at the bottom of the hill by gathering gear, assembling their classmates, and getting them to the buses. The care for Milo did not end at the ski slopes. Ski Club chaperone Marissa Renatelli uh was a cons- Excuse me, was a consistent stabilizing presence throughout. Marissa remained at Milo's side immediately following the accident, providing comfort while simultaneously serving as
019the primary link of communication with district administration. After ensuring all students returned safely to Odyssey, Marissa drove to the hospital to personally check in with Milo and his family. Because of their preparation, teamwork, and deep personal care, a dangerous situation was stabilized. We are happy to report that Milo is now recovering well. On behalf of the Greece Central School District, we extend our sincere gratitude to these students and Ms. Renatelli. Um we would also like to thank RTE teacher uh Chris Moros, and our partner fire departments. It is your collaboration and hands-on training that helped make this response possible. These individuals have proven they possess more than just skills, that they have the character to serve when it matters most. Would you please join me in a round of applause? >> [applause] [applause] >> Okay.
020So, we're going to call each student up to the front to present them with a certificate or award for um this amazing accomplishment. Okay. I don't I don't have them. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. Well, he should just come up then. So, the first certificate I have is for Trevor Day. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you so much. Practicing for graduation walk. Angel Wong? >> [applause] >> Joseph Presk? >> [applause] >> Congratulations. Thank you. Kaden Oliver? >> [applause] >> Thank you so much. Kaden Bedard? >> [applause] >> Kaden Griffin? >> [applause] >> Milo Otto? >> [applause] >> Kimberly Ben? >> [applause] >> Allison Bialo? >> [applause] >> Last but not least, Marissa Marissa Rena- Renatelli. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, can we have the rest of the board and Oh, Milo. Why don't you come
021on up? >> [applause] >> No, you're fine. You too. >> [snorts] [laughter] >> Thank you, everybody. >> [applause] >> Our Odyssey and Arcadia folks, if you want to sneak out, feel free to have the chance to do it. Romeo's going to be presenting soon, so if anyone else wants to get out of here. Later, Romeo. You better. Breaking news. Thank you, everyone. All right, moving on to personnel. We're going to do 2.01 staffing. Can I have someone bring staffing to the table, please? Mr. Butler, followed by Ms. Like. Any comments, questions, concerns on staffing? Seeing none, all in favor. I. All right, that passes 7 to 0. Super- or Assistant Superintendent Larson. Thank you so much. Uh I have the pleasure to in- introduce a few new Gosh, it really emptied out. Uh um a
022few new people this evening. Um first I'd like to start off with uh new Assistant School Business Manager, Jane St. Amour. >> [applause] >> Jane joined the Greece team in February as our new Assistant School Business Manager. She comes to us with over 25 years of expertise in public in public sector finance, having held key leadership roles in both school districts and county government. Jane's extensive background includes serving as a School Business Official for the Saugerties and Spencer Van Etten School Districts, as well as shared School Business Official with Greater Southern Tier BOCES. Her experience also spans county govern- government finance, where she served as Internal Auditor, Chief Accountant, and CFO. A Binghamton University alumna with a degree in accounting, Jane is currently deepening her expertise and pursuing a Master's in Education and her School
023District Business Leader certification. She recently relocated to the area and looks forward to serving the Greece Central School District community. Congratulations, Jane. >> [applause] >> All right, can I have Superintendent Smalley, Deputy Fleming, and um Assistant Superintendent Colletti, please come up and do a photo? >> [snorts] [applause] >> All right. All right, next I am pleased to introduce Ms. Mandy Harvey, Assistant School Business Manager. >> [applause] >> Mandy brings more than two ducky decades of experience in education, including the past 5 years at Rochester City School District. Her career spans classroom instruction and high-level school business operations. With leadership experience in governmental accounting, finance, and grants administration, Mandy has successfully overseen budgets exceeding $450 million. A New York State Certified School District Business Leader, Mandy holds a Master's degree in Educational Administration, summa laude, and
024a Certificate of Advanced Study in school district business leadership, Magna Laude, from the University of Brockport. A passionate advocate for student achievement, her career has focused on integrating student success with strategic financial planning. Her colleagues describe her as a system builder, an innovative thinker who prioritizes collaboration and supportive leadership. Mrs. Harvey is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's words, "We cannot build a future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." This quote guides her work every day. Her mission is to serve students by ensuring that they have the best possible environment, >> [clears throat] >> one where they can thrive socially, emotionally, and academically because everything behind the scenes is running smoothly and efficiently. Outside of her professional life, Mandy is a dedicated wife and mother who is eager to begin her
025work serving the families and students of our community. Congratulations and welcome. >> [applause] >> Mandy, could we have your family come up and do a photo, and then afterward we'll do another photo with um Superintendent Smalley, and the deputy, and and Romeo. >> [applause] >> All right, and last but not least, our new director of information technology, Gregory Swan. >> [applause] >> We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Greg Swan to the role of director of information technology. Since joining the Greece Central School District as a network administrator, Greg has demonstrated profound commitment to the technical health of our schools and the success of our students and staff. Greg brings 15 years of specialized experience in educational technology to this leadership position. Before joining Greece Central, he served as the lead senior network technician
026for the Rush-Henrietta School District from 2010 to 2025. A graduate of SUNY Brockport, Greg holds a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Information Systems. His deep technical background is matched by his passion for the human element of IT. When asked what he enjoys most about his work, he said, "I love working with technology, but the real satisfaction comes from seeing how our department's work positively affects teachers and students. I'm looking forward to using my K-12 experience to lead this team and continue supporting our district's mission." Greg's ties to the Greece Central School District are both professional and personal. His wife, Jennifer Swan, has been a dedicated teacher in the district for over a decade. Together, they have two sons, Ryan, 10, and Evan, 7. When he isn't managing network infrastructure or planning for the district's future,
027he can be found volunteering as an assistant coach for his son, Evan's Penfield Fusion soccer team, visiting Watkins Glen with his family to watch the races, and cheering on the Buffalo Bills at their new stadium, where he's a proud season ticket holder. Please join us in congratulating Greg. >> [applause] >> Do you want to Greg, do you want to bring up your son and have a photo, and then um Dr. Zafits, Superintendent Smalley, and the Deputy Fleming? >> [applause] >> All right, moving on. 2.02 GTA MOA additional FTEs. Can I have someone bring that to the table, please? First by Miss Like, second by Miss Felzerano. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 7 to 0. Moving on to 2.03, uh non-unit rate sheet substitute security. Can I
028have someone bring that to the table, please? First by Mr. Buonagurio, second by Mr. Butler. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 7 to 0. Moving on to special presentations, 4.01, 2026-2027 budget update. Superintendent Smalley. All right, good evening. I'd like to ask Romeo Colilli to for the budget update. Good evening, everyone. For this evening, we've got three areas we'd like to touch base on. One is the New York State uh budget update, which is positive. Uh touch on the one-house update from both the Assembly the Assembly and the Senate, so the board kind of knows where where folks sit um with the upcoming um state budget, and then give a quick update on our 26-27 budget to date. New York State budget update. Um under the Division
029of Budget, they're projecting significantly more uh revenue than they anticipated back when they started the 25-26 school year. They're up about $11 billion from where they thought back in June of '25, uh so that puts them in a a good spot. Most of that revenue, or a lot of that revenue, comes from the New York State uh financial sector. So, that is a big driver, the market's been doing well, therefore the state has been doing well on their interest earning and revenue uh receipts in general. So, they're in a good spot. Additionally, with the state budget, uh you can see here uh in the original deficit projections were higher than where they currently are at this time for 26-27, uh the state projected $7.5 billion uh deficit. There's no deficit at this point. For 27-28,
03012.1, that's about down by about half. And for 28-29, 14.6 is where they were back in June. They're down to about nine uh billion dollars in a deficit at this point. These deficits are likely to change throughout the year, um but at this point, the New York State budget is in better shape than originally anticipated when they passed the budget last year. However, what could change it? Those are the risks uh that were shown below. Any government shutdowns uh could change that. Any unanticipated impacts uh from the implementation of the one big beautiful bill. Uh the lot of that still needs to be implemented. We're not sure if that has any negative impacts anywhere down the road. Any downturn in the financial uh sector could have an impact on their receipts. And an overall economic
031downturn could also change that picture uh from where it is today. On a plus side, uh New York State has a rainy day fund that they began a little while ago. They're currently at about $14.6 billion just back in uh 2020, they were only at 3.3, so it's been an effort so they put away some funds uh for a rainy day, so that's positive news. Um there is talk, and you'll see it in the uh next portion of the update, about a 2% uh due minimum versus one for the hold harmless districts. Uh that would extra percentage would would cost the state about $97 million with 90% of that going to average and high needs school districts. Um given the current financial situation of the state and their reserves, we do anticipate that the due
032minimum may go to 2%, uh but you'll see a little bit later, we have not yet factored in that into our budget at this point. Since the budget is due April 1st, we want to see if that really kind of pans out before we go ahead and uh put it in the budget. Shifting gears to the Senate and the Assembly, um each of these slides are just set up the same way. Uh and the Senate, regarding foundation aid, uh they accept the governor's proposal. They are in agreement with increasing the due minimum to 2%, and they'd also like to have uh add some new weightings uh in the foundation aid formula for homeless, foster care, and ELL students. For the Assembly, uh basically the same as the Senate, but they additionally propose to eliminate the
033cap on the pupil needs index. Uh currently, there's a cap there of 2.0, which means if a district is at the cap on the pupil needs index, they basically get double the per pupil that they would have had. There are districts that have a pupil needs index that is above two, but the state arbitrarily caps it at two. The Assembly is looking to remove that, so more funds are driven to uh higher needs districts um above 2%. Universal pre-K On the Senate side, um they accept the governor's proposal to fund four-year-old pre-K as well as a statewide pre-K for all eligible students by 2028-2029. And they also propose to allow nonprofits, charter schools, museums, and libraries as eligible providers. And they would like to make transportation for UPK or pre-K aidable. On the Assembly side,
034again, they agree with the Senate's first point. And they'd also like to propose that three-year-old pre-K be funded at a minimum of $10,000 per pupil. Zero-emission bus transition. Uh Senate proposes earmarking $100 million to support infrastructure and other uh needs in order to implement um the transition. Uh similarly, the Assembly proposed to earmark up to $100 million for the same purpose. Oops. Sorry. Okay. >> [snorts] >> Prior year uh claims, we spoke about this last time. There was a queue out there uh owed to districts for about $326 million. The Senate proposes uh what they have in the past, appropriating $18 million to pay off a portion of the amount that is owed to districts. The Assembly is looking uh was proposing to pay down the full amount at $326 million and get rid of
035the uh do list. Library materials aid. The Senate is proposing to increase it from $6.25 per pupil to $11.33 per pupil. That $6.25 per pupil has been around since 20 07-08 school year. So, it's been around and it hasn't changed since that first implementation of the foundation aid formula um back so many years ago. So, um increasing that would help districts uh provide more materials for students. The Assembly has no proposal on that. Community schools. Senate proposes an additional $105 million in community school programs and strategies. And uh similarly, the Assembly proposes $100 million in community schools and uh to create new strategies and new schools as well. Building aid. Senate proposes to increase the cost limit for uh capital outlay projects. Currently, it's at $100,000 for one project that you can do a year.
036Senate proposes increasing that to 250 to do multiple projects uh with those funds as well. And for the Assembly, there's no proposal for that. Those are the updates. Now, to I'll discuss a little bit the changes uh to the budget to date. Uh last time we were here, we shared uh this slide here. Last year's budget is is on top at $318.5 million. On February 3rd, we did the initial budget. We had a uh rollover or initial gap of almost $12 million. On March 10th, we presented to the board uh the changes made since February 3rd and we were down to about $8.76 million. Currently, as of today, uh we are balanced. Um and some of the changes you'll see on the revenue side and on the expenditure side. And just to touch a little
037bit on those items, uh on the expense side, uh the first item, salaries and benefits, uh these were further adjustments to salary and benefits category due to the completion of staffing to actual process that was being completed by the Human Resources Department. Each school was reviewed in detail and this represents the funding uh to meet enrollment and student needs at each building, including students with disabilities. Uh the next item was a retiree breakage adjustment, a small amount. The next item um was an adjustment to the retirement and payroll taxes category for us uh based on projected staffing and salaries. We decreased our contingency in that category uh to reduce the use of reserve funds uh for the upcoming year while still providing some contingency within the line to help uh absorb any fluctuations that we
038might have there. And then uh the other big item is uh the vacancy list adjustment. Uh in the past, we have carried uh several unfilled vacancies on our vacancy list uh for for multiple years. Uh this adjustment removes some of the vacancy funding until such time that we can actually fill those positions. So, for instance, we may have a position where we have 20 vacancies. We've been carrying 20 vacancies with uh a dollar amount attached to those. It may have been out there for the last year or two. We know we can't fill them all in one year. So, we may have taken 10 of those and said, "We'll leave 10 to see if they can be filled." And should we fill out the 10 in one year, we'll add back the other 10 that
039are needed in a subsequent year. Um but to carry all those vacancies that have multiple years behind them uh was an adjustment we felt that we could make in the budget and still be okay and deal with it a little bit down the road. And then there was about $276 uh thousand dollars worth of miscellaneous adjustments. With our budget being Oh, I'm sorry. Let me go to the revenue side. On the revenue side, the balance, we've talked about using reserve funds. So, this is a transfer from retirement reserve for about $8.1 million to uh to balance things off. Should the legislative budget come in in time uh prior to the board adoption of the budget on April 21st, we'll make another adjustment to that. If we do get the 2% instead of the one, it
040will be an additional $1,191,000 to the district in foundation aid. We will then subtract that $1,191 from the 8075 and we will make an adjustment to increase our state aid by the 1.1 million and reduce our reserve usage by 1.1 million. Still keeping us in balance, but the reserve use then will be about $7 million instead of eight. Okay? With that, the budget to budget increase is almost $17 million or about 5.31% increase over the current year. So, on a summary basis, our operating budget at this point is $335.4 million. It's a budget increase almost 17 uh million dollars, 5.31%. Our tax levy is set at $139,990,326. Excuse me, that is the maximum allowable levy where we need 50% plus one vote. That represents a levy increase of $2.9 million or about 2.27%. And then
041lastly, just next steps as we've discussed in prior uh presentations, uh we're looking for the state budget. Um revenues uh could change and we'll update the board on those as needed. Uh the cabinet, human resources, uh and finance will continue looking through the budget over the next 18 to 24 months. But anything that changes on the revenue or expenditure side between now and board adoption, we will bring back to the board with an update uh hopefully before uh Mr. Smalley does his superintendent budget recommendation to the board. Questions? Ms. Farmer. Thank you, Romeo. So, um while we welcome more investment into our pre-K three three- and four-year-old kids, bus transportation, um classroom space, what are we are we is the state going to be I know that we in Monroe County at the school board
042meetings, we are advocating for that. So, the space at least. The buses, we know that drivers are the Mhm. concern. So, what are we thinking? At this point, um space is an issue um even at the ELC. So, the mandate kicks in 2028-2029 that any four-year-old that wishes to have a slot in pre-K, we need to accommodate. That is going to be a challenge for us. Uh we need to continue to be talking about that. I believe the Senate uh is looking to add uh pre-K transportation as an aidable item. Again, that um that comes with kind of a double-edged sword. It's great in order to have the transportation for pre-K, but again, we are short drivers. Um if as we think about it a little bit more, all those buses will have to be
043retrofitted with car seats, they'll have to have seat belts, loading and unloading three and four-year-olds will take time. There's a lot of challenges, although it's a good positive move forward. It will present challenges in terms of space, staffing, uh bussing, and uh funding. And at this point, we don't know anything from the state regarding those challenges. Other than um the governor's uh initiative to have all four-year-olds in pre-K that wish to have pre-K by 2028-2029, there has been no other real mention other than what I shared this evening. Thank you. Mr. Butler. Uh thank you for the presentation, Romeo. Just one question on the prior year aid claims. Some encouraging news there. If that funding were to be approved and and come through, does that come through just as like an additional bump to the
044foundation aid line or is that money restricted in some way in terms of what we can do with it? >> It's uh not restricted, but it comes through as a prior year revenue. It would not be part of the foundation aid formula. It would come through as a separate revenue payment. Okay. But there We don't We don't We have not budgeted for it. If it does come in, I think there were wrote about 700,000. When it does come in, it'll come in and then we'll kind of float to the bottom line as fund balance cuz we didn't budget for it. Okay. And uh the other question on that is the community schools aid, are we would we likely if that those proposals go through, do we expect that we'd get more funding for our community
045schools programs? I believe so. I haven't looked deeply into that yet. I believe we would. Okay. And so and uh apologize for springing this question on you, but would that then have a uh have expenses that we'd have to incur with that or it would help just better uh fund our community schools work that we're already committed to doing? It looks like it's going to go through but the proposal is to put it through as categorical aid. Um so I'm not sure if that's something we would have to uh apply for in order to receive. It's again 105 or up to 100 million dollars. Um I'm not certain if that comes through as a pastoral or some type of a grant yet. Okay. Thank you. But we would probably apply for it in order to
046utilize the funds. Thanks. Mr. Buonogurio. Thanks, Romeo. Um I don't know if you have insight into this. You gave a little bit of um I'm going to lose it alluded to one of the factors that drove the uh the change in the in the budget projections, the deficit projection. But I'm wondering, it seems at least in my memory, it seems like we've been anticipating uh some significant budget shortfalls for the state for a while. And this is a pretty big shift. I'm wondering Do you have a sense of where they went off in their projections that they came back so significantly? Yeah, I I I This is just my my [snorts] my own opinion. I think a lot of it has to do with Wall Street and the finance sector. I don't think they bank
047on what the market's going to do and the market has just done much better than they anticipated. So I guess my my kind of surprise at that is that these projections I want to go back a ways. Yeah. And again, I I uh I'm not aware of any year where they did not project a double-digit deficit uh in the three-year period going forward. So >> Okay. Um what drives that? I'm not really sure if it's movement of folks out of the state or changes in the tax code or whatever, but um they do have mid-year updates that are about 200 pages. I read the executive summary and I kind of end it there. So I'm not really sure other than the finance sector what drives a lot of this increase or deficit going back uh
048several years. I'm sorry. All right, thank you. I Do you have another one? Um I imagine you would have told us, but any movement on the issue of uh electric buses? No. Uh there's been no uh you saw them at the proposals there. Um one informal piece that I'll share that I saw yesterday uh that there was a bill uh to repeal um the mandate, I believe yesterday or maybe over the weekend, and uh it was rejected overwhelmingly. Every Democrat uh in the state voted not to repeal the mandate. So my opinion, if this is going to move forward at this point on the same timeline um that we've been kind of fighting against. And then just related to that, the the proposal to fund pre-K and and possibly I guess it was from the
049Senate side pos- possibly fund or make uh um transportation aidable, that doesn't have a timeline on it at this point. Not at this point. Yeah. Not that I've seen. Yeah. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other Miss Farmer? So just to follow up on uh the electric buses and the data centers. So what we are hearing and reading is that the data centers, if they were to use uh more appropriate or I guess expensive infrastructure, that electricity would be better used, which would then hope could then be shared, if you will, with the electric buses. So that's something that's also being discussed. Um Again, my informal understanding of it in in data centers, you're referring to uh artificial intelligence data centers. They are chewing up a ton of of uh electricity, right? Enough to
050cause a problem for everybody else. My understanding is there is an initiative for those AI companies to cuz right now to pay for their own electric. So they will fund their own usage in more of what they're using. I'm not entirely sure that that frees up any additional usage for somebody else uh to to have. They're still going to use it. They're just going to have to throw more money at it than they currently are, but I think the grid is going to still be locked into a certain uh cave capacity. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to business action, 5.01, annual legal notice. Can someone bring that to the table, please? First by Miss Like, second by Mr. Butler. Comments, questions, concerns on this? Hearing none, all those in
051favor? That passes 7 to 0. All right. Um moving on to 6.01, anticipated bids. That's written information only. Um moving on to the consent agenda. Can I get someone to bring the consent agenda to the table, please? First by Mr. Butler, second by Miss Falzarano. Any questions, concerns, comments on the consent agenda agenda? No? All those in favor? That passes 7 to 0. All right. Moving on to section 11, Board of Education information, board committee reports. Uh we obviously we moved the audit committee reports to the next meeting, so we're on 11.02, bilingual program advisory council report. Miss Falzarano, you're up. Okay. Um on March 11th, the dual language advisory council meeting met virtually. The meeting was led by our multilingual education director, Shauna Sweet. Um the report was that the Spanish dual language program
052uh students in grades K and 1 are are making academic gains. Teachers are reporting of cohesiveness in their lesson planning um as they progress through the school year. There are plans for a book read of the text Dos 2, written by local author Henry Pedron. Some of you may know him from um the bilingual programs in Rochester City School District. He um has written this lovely lovely book and that the preliminary plans are to invite our dual language families to such an event where we have the author attend with um the book read. The ALAS Latino Family Literacy Program, that is our own district pro- uh family lit program, continues to meet regularly once a month with plans to also extend opportunities for parents whose first language is English to join. So there's a desire
053on the part of the whole program for parents to come together in that setting of a family literacy. The council has also begun to look ahead for school-wide activities at English Village to honor Hispanic Heritage Month next fall. And the recruitment efforts um are continuing to welcome our incoming kindergarteners and it's ongoing with a virtual information night actually taking place this evening. There was a time slot set aside for our first language Spanish-speaking families to learn more about the program. And then the second half-hour segment for our English uh speaking families, first language English, to find out more about the program. And there are plans for dates in April for families to tour the program and find out more firsthand what that looks like. Um Director Shauna Sweet also shared a really interesting and an
054important piece of information. Each year the department the English as a new language department is required to to submit a comprehensive education plan and we submit all the different enrollments by language and we have reached a threshold for one of our language groups whose first language is not English. For grades 1 and 3 we have either met or exceeded the threshold for Arabic. Which now that will require us to put our heads together, form some focus groups, and meet with local leaders, parents, staff around how we will meet that that objective by the fall of 2026-27. So as a result there are dates scheduled throughout the month of April to meet with various groups to find out what are the needs and what program model we may want to pursue in order to meet that
055requirement from New York State. And that's the that's the update from the council. Thank you. All right, moving on to 11.03 culture and climate committee report secondary board member like. We did not meet this month but next month we will be meeting for with the district design day and that will be April 13th a full day. It will be both the elementary and secondary committee together working on the D SIP goal three behavior and the task will be to link the work that they've done with leader and me in the elementary school with the portrait of the graduate. Um and see where that goes but we'll have the full day working on that. Thank you. You're welcome. All right, 11.04 district community schools advisory committee report. Miss Felzerano has volunteered to take up the mantle
056on this one. Thank you. The community schools district advisory committee met on Friday March 13th. The meeting was led by our director Kelly Spiridigliozzi. And the meeting began with the a state current state of where we are that there has been an increase in the number of afterschool clubs offered and there's more participation from staff offering as well as parents. So we have parents also willing to lead the clubs in our in our schools. The attendance challenge the brackets that many of you probably been following has been very well received and we are seeing increase in certain areas in the sustained increase in attendance in the various school buildings. Kids care programming continues to be connected to academic work which again as we've talked about in previous sessions is a really nice series or system
057right from what we see in terms of what we want to collect as data and improve our student instruction and achievement. And there will be more information forthcoming on college and career readiness in response to survey results. Um opportunities such as Rock the Jobs and Rochester Works are offering work-based service for numbers of our students which is a nice way for them to get a taste of what work life is like while they're here in school. This this was my first time attending this committee. I was invited to attend and they have four subcommittees. They have a strategic committee, a communication committee, collaboration and also implementation and impact. The strategic committee reports that there is a landing page that has been created. The communication committee reported that they're interested in knowing that what do stakeholders
058know about community schools? For example, policy, advocacy, what do people really know about this? The collaboration committee has a two-sided question. How do we update our many community partners and also find out what can they do or how they may want to help? And then how do schools indicate that need? So there's a there's a desire to find out and be more consistent with matching what the community partners can provide to our schools and how do our schools indicate what that need is? And also is it a good match? So to create a dashboard so that we can actually be more efficient. Um the implementation and impact committee talked about community supports that may be available but then also need to fit our goals and then how do the partners connect to our buildings by
059interest, expertise, or a random match? So again very interesting um it was a two-hour meeting and there were various partners present at this meeting. People from Foodlink and Center for Youth as well as district leaders and it went I thought it went very well. Thank you for that. All right, 11.05 grading policy committee report President McCabe. Thank you. The committee met and we continue to discuss standards-based grading. That's going to probably be a longer-term project with the committee. Um and we're also hoping to have some type of a policy to the Board of Education on the 55 rule prior to the start of next school year. So information will be continuing. Thank you President McCabe. All right, 11.06 MCSBA district operations report Mr. Van Agoria. I was not in town for that meeting so I
060have no report for that. All right, 11.07 optimization process committee report I have no report. With that can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting? First by Miss Like, second by Miss Felzerano. All those in favor? All right. Have a good night everybody. Thank you.