001Amodas Corell and Mansfield College concert choir. Sarah taught at Satan Catholic School and was building and was a building substitute at a lane. Sarah's time in the district was brief, but she quickly became part of our school community. Please keep Sarah and her family your thoughts and prayers. Peggy Ganon passed away on September 30th, 2025. Peggy worked for Greece Central School District at the Arcadia Middle School from 1982 to 2003 when she when she retired. In 2005, she came back to Greece as a clerical substitute until 2023. Please keep Peggy and her family in your thoughts and prayers. >> Janice Host passed away on September 28th, 2025. We are saddened to share that our friend and former colleague Janice Host, a longtime member of the Greece world languages team, has passed away. Janice's career in
002Greece began in 1977 as a substitute teacher. In 1979, she accepted a full-time Spanish teaching position at Athena, where she inspired students until her retirement in 2010. Throughout her career, Janice's impact was fought far beyond her classroom. She served as a Kirkin leader, class adviser, student council adviser, and trip organizer, leading students abroad several times. She also facilitated low professional development, advised the future educators of America club, organized food drives, and helped shape countless student experiences. Please keep Janice and her family in your thoughts and prayers. And finally, Daryl Spindler passed away September 26, 2025. Daniel was a Gree Central School District substitute bus attendant. Daniel started in the district in 2024 in August of 24. Please keep Daniel and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you. >> I pledge allegiance >> to
003the 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. Oh yeah, sorry. Can I move the agenda table, please? Moved by Vice President Stencil, second by Mr. Bongori. Any comments, questions, additions, deletions to the agenda? Seeing none, all those in favor of the agenda. That passes nine to zero. All right, moving on to our comments. We have several people here to speak to the board of education this evening. First off, we have Mr. Eerts. Welcome. Good evening, everyone. Uh, good evening to our community members and staff. Thank you very much for the board for hearing me. Um, this one's going to be a great one, so just relax. It's like 12 minutes long. Just joking,
004Sean. I know how you take that seriously. So, the Greece Central School District continues to model the power of collaboration between educators, district leadership, and the Greece teachers association. Together, we're addressing challenges around safety, behavior, instructional support through open communication, and shared problem solving. So, this is kind of interesting that recently we had a visit from the New York State um United Teachers Executive Vice President Jamie Safone. She visited Greece to see how see firsthand how this partnership is improving school climate and supporting staff and students. She was impressed by the professionalism and teamwork displayed across all schools and commended both district and GTA leadership for their proactive approach to addressing issues and enforcing the contract. Her tour of our schools along with Superintendent Smalling and the superintendent's cabinet left with a powerful impression of
005what makes Greece unique. At Olympia, we were able to see um more than just a a new security system. Students themselves approached us to share how the system has improved climate and culture. As the lunch transition began, the halls were calm and orderly, not a single phone or device in sight. The message from students was clear. The system is helping to make the environment better. In Chris Moras's response to emergencies class, Vice President Sophon witnessed hands-on learning that goes beyond the classroom. students confidently demonstrated skills that will soon translate into real careers with many expected to join local emergency response agencies after passing the civil service exam this spring. At Long Ridge, she visited classrooms where highly effective instruction was on full display. She also stepped into a fifth grade PLC that didn't even know
006visitors were coming. What she found was a true team-driven PLC working seamlessly together to improve outcomes for students. Even more exciting, this success is the direct result of hard work by district and GTA leadership to give members the time and support they need to own this work fully. So Jaime's visit was a reminder of how much we have to be proud of in Greece, our educators, our students, and our community. Together, we are addressing real change challenges with collaboration, creativity, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. I asked Jamie to send me a quote regarding her experience, but she was so blown away she sent a bit more not too long. What I witnessed in Greece is something truly special. A genuine, respectful partnership between the Greece teachers association and district leadership that puts students, schools,
007and community first. Relationships like this don't just happen by chance. They're built through trust, communication, and a shared sense of purpose. In today's climate, this kind of collaboration between labor and management is rare, and it's worth protecting. When the education community stands united, we can make real progress for our students. We've seen this at the state level. Whether it's fighting to make sure schools get the funding they deserve, removing cell phone, sorry, cell phones from classrooms so students can focus on learning, or reforming the teacher and principal evaluation system to better support growth and excellence. What's happening in Greece is a model of collaboration that benefits students, uplifts staff, and strengthens public education. And it's the kind of partnership we should all be working to replicate across New York State. So to me, those are
008truly powerful words from one of our elected NISAT officers, a leader representing over 600,000 professionals across the United States and working side by side with New York State Education Commissioner, I'm sorry, New York State Education Education Department and Commissioner Rosa um to drive positive lasting change in public education. So, I know I went a little bit longer than normal, but I thought this was pretty valuable, important, and I hope that you feel that it was worth worth it as well. Thank you, and have a great evening. >> Thank you, Brian. >> Cass. >> All right. Good evening everyone. My name is Shannon Heler and I'm the principal at the Early Learning Center. >> Good evening. This is Mahmud Ger Manley. and the assistant principal at the Greece Early Learning Center. >> So, we have the
009extreme honor of representing uh GASA this evening as it relates to our efforts and intentional moves um to build culture and climate in our schools. Uh we know that this looks different in each one of our schools and we're here tonight just to share some of those with you right now. So, we're going to start with Olympia. Um so Olympia is building um really their culture around their SEAL, their social emotional learning lessons. Um and they have like um named that RISE which stands for I want to make sure we had backup here rise responsibility integrity showing respect and empathy. And really that's their hallmark. That's part of their PBIS program. That's part of their SEAL um matrix. and with responsibility, integrity, respect, empathy, those components, that is really the hallmark of their SEAL um
010focus at the school. And they're seeing a big payoff with this emphasis. So like we're having common language, common lessons across the board. And they have now recognized 50 students for um for for acting as such and for displaying these qualities in the school. And they wanted to mention that the RISE program supports students growth and also community values. So really part of that community component as well. >> At Arcadia Middle School, they are creating a positive school culture called Titan Pride. They focus on the importance of showing up to school, being present, and participating each day. They celebrate good attendance, set clear rules and expectations, and meaningful rewards to encourage responsibility, connection, and good habits in students. They also work with families and include their voices in the school community. This helps build a
011feeling of belonging and shared success, which is what it means to be a Titan. Next up, we have Homes Road. Homes Road had their open house, which many of us are going through, have already had. Um that was October 1st. They really highlighted their ENL program and um held grade level presentations throughout the building to share with their families and school community. um families toured the building um and did so in the venue uh forum of a scavenger hunt and they wanted me to make sure that we shared with you that their next community event um was a movie night sponsored by PTA and that is going to be held on October 17th and also just a call out for any clothing donations you might have they are willing and wanting to accept English has
012a lot of exciting news happening they are getting ready for their open house scheduled for this Thursday, October 9th, and they are looking forward to seeing families and showcasing all the great work happening in the classrooms. And their after school clubs will be starting in a few weeks, offering students many different opportunities to explore their interest and uh build new skills. Their student leadership group and the EVUB council continues to work closely with the administration and community schools team helping to make English village an even more welcoming and positive place for all students. And as a school community, all of their teams and committees are working together to make sure that their efforts are aligned with their SIP goals and together they moving they are moving in the same direction to support student success. >>
013Okay. So you might re um see what some familiar faces here on these pages. Um this is of course at the ELC, so we're a little partial, but um we really did want to highlight some of our efforts towards building climate and culture across our um grade levels prek through two. We are a community school. Um and I would say we just want to share with you what this looks like. Um we do take this very seriously even though it is our bread and butter at um the ELC. Take this seriously because we do have um the basis of all learning at our school. We have about 186 prek students um who come in each year a new um set and class of students but those students we out of the 186 we might have
01440 or so who remain with us for kindergarten. So we really do build ourselves as the foundation for all of learning and social emotional learning and ties to the family and community at the early learning center because they leave us and they depart to all um areas of the district. So, we want to make sure that they have a very solid foundation, that we're wrapping ourselves around the families as well as the students, and that they have a wonderful, wonderful first start to the school experience and that we are working together um as a team. So, we begin our efforts even before the school year starts um to build relationships with our families and we're going to share some of those um this evening and Mammoot is going to talk about our Westy wagon that
015we just started this um this past summer to build some of those relationships. So, as a part of our um Westy Wagon initiative, we conducted so many home visits over the summer. Uh and I would like to take a moment to share one specific uh event or visit that I really enjoyed every second and I uh just told the family that I when I see the board members and cabinet, I will tell them how uh thankful and grateful they are. And one specific family at the bottom from Nepal uh they just uh basically indicated that we were the first people who visited their houses. So they were like happy as kids. And second of all, father specifically said that when he received a letter in Nepalese, he said that was the happiest moment of his
016life in this country. And he was so grateful for all the opportunities uh that his or their kids are going through uh in this country and and I said I promise when I get a chance I will definitely share that uh with you. But all these uh amazing and fantastic visits just uh provided us with so many uh opportunities to connect with families and listen to their stories. And our superintendent Jeremy just mentioned at the opening ceremony that you know it's more than data numbers. It's really looking at their faces, listening to their stories. It's much more than that. One specific mom was just getting out of uh her chemo and she was super happy to see us. that was her first day to go to a camping after like 3 years. But just listening
017to these stories and being being a part of their community at their houses was so meaningful for us. And I thank Dr. Heler uh to make me a part of this wonderful event. >> All right. And that's our our team in the middle there who went out on the on the um in the neighborhoods and we held three different um events as such and we wanted to make sure that it was conducive to the needs of our families. And so we had three different opportunities and it was um just a wonderful wonderful start to the year. So we're going to share two more um experiences from the ELC. Um on the left there you will see um some pictures from our um Westy. So we kind of abbreviate that Westy universities. We have four of
018those formally throughout the year. Um at our WestUS um we have um families and children come preK through two. Um during those evenings, we you can see that some of our our kiddos and families um have their meal in front of them. We we make sure that this is like um a community gathering. We want everyone to feel welcome and embraced. And so we eat together as a community like you would a family. And then um we do that for about 25 minutes each time. And then for the last part of the evening, about an hour or so, we're able to depart um some information to families that we think is relevant for that time of the year. could be on literacy, could be on math, um technology, mindfulness, social emotional learning, um whatnot. But
019then what is also wonderful, so we had our first one already and you can see some of the pictures from there and the staff and families who attended and um but what's wonderful is at these events, we are also eliciting um family feedback. So like this is great that we offer these events, but we really want to make sure it's what our parents are needing and asking for. And so now at our next west, that data will inform our presentations next time and what we deliver to families. Um so we have three more um left for the year and I encourage everyone if you'd like to come, you're invited. And we now are going to go to our next piece. >> Yeah. Oops. So last but not least, our open house was a huge success
020last week with close to 400 attendees including parents, uh students, board members, uh community members and thank you uh Miss Farmer to be a part of this wonderful night with us. That was another event for us to connect with the families uh and for them uh to see and meet staff, ask questions, clarifying questions, you know, just exploring the classrooms. So, this made our school a shared space where everyone in the community feels uh that sense of belonging. And to me, that was a huge success. Uh and I'd like to take this moment to thank all the board members and the cabinet members uh for making this happen for us. And thank you all. >> Thank you everyone for your support. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> And I don't have every anyone here
021from Acept Gus or Teamsters. All right. Moving on to residence forum 1.06. Uh, Miss Michelle, I hope I pronounced that correct. >> Good evening and welcome. >> Good evening. >> And I'm just going to remind you that we can't use names of staff members. Okay, >> sure. >> Okay, >> no problem. I can say like principal or >> Yeah, you can reference principal or board president or superintendent. Just no names. >> Okay, perfect. >> Thank you. >> All right. Legal definition of assault is an international act that places another person in reasonable fear or apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive physical contact. Please remember that definition. This is what happened to my son Jeppy two weeks ago at Arcadia Middle School during class. during class, unprovoked, no interaction, just a student that is a known
022offender in the school with a long wrap sheet, attacked my son, five times the size of him, slamming him spine first into a table and pinning him down. My son yelled for the teacher's help with no response. 11 children in this classroom, and she has no idea what is going on. Please explain this one to me. His friends had to go run for help. Why this felon gave himself an e- pass and left the classroom? I did file a DASA with the school. Now, this is my second child in Arcadia Middle that has been attacked in the school. I also spoke to one of the administrators sitting on your panel who says that you guys and the school do not recognize the legal definition of assault. Your definition means the child has to be injured.
023What is that? Because the nurse never checked him. According to your school doctor, that's not a policy. So, if they're in a phys physical altercation or attack, the nurse doesn't have to check them. I find that to be a problem. So, what is the definition injured? Physically, emotionally, mentally. After this, the principal asked him to go sit in the classroom with the attacker and talk it out. I'm sorry, but these restorative purposes do not work for everything. You expect him to go sit with the attacker and talk things out after he was physically assaulted in a classroom. Okay? If that happened to any of you at work, would you be okay with it when your co when your boss says, "Sorry, they didn't hurt you, so go back to work. The way this was handled,
024the principal says something was handed out. Kids showed up to class every single day, was at school every single day. I'm not stupid, and neither is everyone else in this room. Nothing was done. Instead, the way it was handled, I asked the principal to speak to his mother, and he gladly said, "Sure." The mother and I talked. We had a good conversation, and I let her know, "Next time this child is not to come near my child, if he does, him and the mother will be arrested, and they will be speaking with our lawyer." So, I would like to ask you again, how is this okay for my son who is one of your top students in Arcadia? You have all my permission to go look at his grades and see his standings that he
025is not allowed to feel protected. He's not able to feel safe and have an education. Why are you guys and your school and your administrators okay with the good kids being lost and forgotten? >> Thank you. That concludes residents forum. Moving on to staffing 2.01. Can I move somebody move staffing to the table, please? Moved by Vice President Sensil. Second by Mr. Butler. Any comments, questions, or concerns on staffing? Seeing none, all those in favor. That passes nine to zero. Assistant Superintendent Larson, you're up. >> Thank you so much. Um, I am pleased this evening to welcome our newest administrator, Elementary House Assistant Principal Thomas Roland. [Applause] [Music] Tom Roland earned his bachelor's degree at Bloomsburg University, his master's degree in school counseling at William Peterson, sorry, Patterson University, and a second masters in educational
026leadership at Ramapo College. Prior to coming to Greece, Tom was a middle school vice principal, a high school dean of students, a middle school counselor, and a high school counselor. Through these positions, he has taken on various responsibilities, including serving as the district anti-bullying coordinator, INRS team leader, district 504 coordinator, head school counselor, and testing coordinator. Before his career in education, he was a diver in the United States Navy. After being honorably discharged, Tom wanted to find another way to serve and chose to pursue education. Tom looks forward to working with families and staff to best support the students of Greece Central. His goal is to ensure that every student feels safe, valued, supported, and challenged. Currently, Tom and his family are relocating to the Rochester area from New Jersey. He and his wife Ka
027Kate met in their school counseling program. Kate recently received a position at RIT as the director of student accessibility services. They have two children, Bridget, who is three years old, and Trip, who is nearly two. The family also has a Bernadoodle named Fred, a mini schnowzer named Winston, and a cat named Margot. Tom is an avid sports fan and is incredibly nervous about the Yankee game later tonight as he should be. Congratulations, Tom. And welcome to Greece. [Music] >> We do some Tom. Don't go anywhere. He's You're clearly new to Greece. We got to do pictures. >> Uh Jeremy, Mark, and Gina. And who? >> Kelly. >> And then is your family going to come back in or >> I don't know. The little guy was really >> cranked. Close to bedtime. We're cutting it
028close. >> Well, if you want to come into a family picture, [Applause] Just as a heads up, if he comes back with his family, we'll stop and let them do a picture. >> All right, moving on to 2.02 tenure. Can I so move that to the table, please? Moved by Miss, second by Miss Seaman. Any comments, questions, concerns on tenure? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 9 to zero. Moving on to 2.03 uh memorandum GTA MOA for additional FTEEs. Can I Sony move that to the table, please? Moved by Mr. Farmer, second by Mr. Ferano. Any comments, questions, concerns on those? Seeing all those in favor? That passes 9 to zero. Moving on to 2.04, the gas MOA tuition reimbursement. Can I saw move that to the table, please? Moved by Miss Seaman,
029second by Miss Felerano. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing the in favor that passes 90 to zero. Moving on 2.05, the GUS facility operations expediter totalit MOA. Can I so I move that to the table, please? Move by Vice President Stansel, seconded by Miss Seaman. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 9 to zero. And moving on 2.06, the GUS MOA for proportional adjustments. Can I have Sony move that to the table, please? Moved by Mr. Maloney, seconded by Miss Farmer. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 9 to zero. Moving on. 4.01 summer program highlights. Superintendent Smalline. >> Okay. Well, as many people know, um our work does not end um in June with our students. Uh we have
030a very busy summer. Um, so tonight what we'd like to do is have Executive Director Todd Smith share um, summer programming and what took place here in our buildings throughout this past summer. >> Thank you. And thank you to the board for giving me the opportunity to celebrate and share some of the amazing things that happened this summer. So, you've seen this slide before that shows a bunch of our programs, but over the summer we had 105 summer programs and over 3,000 participants. Um, and I just want to throw a huge shout out to our program directors, um, our facility staff who have to work around us, right? They spend the summer trying to get the school ready for the fall, but yet we're using the schools all summer. So, they are really challenged by
031that. Our our nursing team is working all summer, finance, human resources, um, and so many others. Our communications team, Laurel's helping us out, making sure we're communicating the families and to you for continuing to provide the funding for this. We're one of the only districts I know of that makes these things free for everybody, which is amazing. And that's a big shout out to you guys for continuing to support that. And so I'm just going to go through each of our programs quickly and highlight some of the great things. So in our K2 summer reading program, we really focus on databased instruction to target into those um science of reading practices and literacy practices to build the skills for some of our struggling readers throughout the year. Um and the focus is to make sure
032that they're ready to really accelerate that learning in the fall. Um and as you can see, we had a lot of success um in terms of maintaining that, right? We don't want to see the summer slide. Um so 96% maintained or showed growth and the writing scale and 100% 100% maintained or shared showed growth in the Earl writing reading levels. So for jumpstart, that's for our students who did not attend our prek programs, right? So 51 students came in and really Julie focuses on building that partnership with families. It's such an integral part of kindergarten is to have that communication with families. So we get our kids ready for school-based skills and we're constantly communicating with families throughout the summer. So we know we're launching into the school year with that same level of communication.
033And then fun camps. Um we have this Kelly Spudo and the community schools team. this was their brainchild a few years ago and it's just amazing to have 500 plus participants um engaging in things that normally would be costing families lots of money to engage in. Um and one of the cool new things this year I like to highlight something that's different is we had student workers and so we had students from throughout the district come in. They got paid. Um we had our young kids getting to look up to our high school students um throughout the summer. um and those great experiences for those high school kids to get paid um internship experience. Kids Care, that is our one program that is a paid program in Greece, right? We would like to have everything
034for for free, but this is full daycare for all of our students, right? Um but different than many other areas. It is it's cheaper than most daycare programs. And any of you have kids know daycare is very expensive and we tie into our grease learning experiences. We had a lot of choice for kids. So, not only are we cheaper, we're providing a highlevel and high quality experience for our kids right in our own schools. Um, and one of the ones that I really like is just this flexibility with I Ready. So, I Ready is a tool that our students are used to and they can engage in this throughout the summer anywhere in the world and at any time. So for families who are vacationing or they're out of state or out of town, they
035can still have their kids hop on once a week, twice a week just to make sure they're not having that summer slide in reading and math. And if they want to, they can hop on a video chat with a teacher to, hey, I'm struggling in this math skill. Um, can I get on a little video call and have a little extra help? But it provides a lot of that flexibility for our families. Um, and we had 145 kids engage in that throughout the summer, which is a a great number. and athletic camps. Um, every year I I celebrate this, but look at those numbers. 2300 plus students participating, 52 camps and 250 coaches. And I think back to I coached uh basketball and softball when I was a teacher at uh Olympia here and that
036was 15 years ago, but I don't remember a lot of partnerships with the community, right? And so now the athletic directors have really worked in the summer and throughout the year of growing those partnerships. So now it's not just school softball and baseball on its own. We're partnering with Little League and those corporations and really bringing our coaches and the community coaches in together and that's really strengthened throughout the summer. And our ENL program, Shauna is here. Um so celebrating her and her team. This is one of our K12 programs. Um and they were at Brookside this summer. You see there's 127 students and 94% showed growth throughout the summer. Um and so they're really working on those foundational literacy skills and they're getting kids out into the community as well, trying to see different
037things um at in terms of going to the town hall, ice cream events, planetarium, things like that. Here's a new program. So ENL jumpst start to high school. So our ENL team does an amazing job and we see tons of growth in our students, but there are some students who we um consider long-term L's. They're entering high school and they just haven't shown that growth we want. So, we want to make sure they're ready for high school. So, Shauna developed ENL Jumpstart to really focused on writing and academic skills. So, those students who haven't quite made that leap that we would like to make sure they're ready to accelerate into high school. And another cool partnership um Sean has developed with Boseies and their center for workforce development. So while our younger students are attending
038the ENL program, their parents can attend this training with Boseies um and get training for jobs and then sometimes we hire them. So they go right into maybe the civil service world or things like that. So it's a cool partnership that helps us both out, right? Helps the families and helps us maybe fill some jobs that we need. An art and music camp new this year. We had our art camps. Um before it was just band and orchestra. So Mario worked with the teachers to to add it in and so kids could really explore their passion in the arts. A lot of kids did both. They did an art camp and then they went and did their violin in the afternoon and then at the end of the week we had a huge celebration with
039families showcasing their art displays and performing um for the band and the orchestra and our middle school programs. Um this is so essential. That is such a hard jump from fifth to sixth grade, right, for our kids going from having one teacher to having a bunch of teachers. So that's really the focus of our middle school programs is those transitions, but we also have some seventh and eighth grade students coming in to focus on some of those math and literacy skills. We had over 200 students come in this summer to engage in those. And that's a lot of work from each individual building um planning that. So that's not a district-wide planned one. that is each of our four middle schools plan their own program for that. So I often say collectively across our district
040I feel like we do more in the summer than many districts do in the whole year. Um when you think we're providing 3,000 plus students participating. Okay. And the 2025 extended school year. So this is for our special education students where in their IP um they have extended school year offerings. This year that program grows so much. Usually it's at Pine Brook. we had to expand to two buildings. You can see there's 320 students. I'm always amazed at the passion and the activities that they have um in the summer for some of our um most challenged students, right? And they get to do amazing things. You go in there, they're doing such fun and exciting things. Um but we had at Pine Brook and Arcadia this summer. Now, I'm going to transition a little bit
041to some of our traditional programs, what I think of as like traditional summer school. When I grew up, we didn't have all this stuff. It was summer school. you failed math, you go to summer school. Right? So that's we're transitioning to some of those types of things. Now for those we tend to partner with Boseies for some of those traditional programs. I always like to share this slide to make sure people have an understanding. We have two big programs in Greece. One is the regional summer school which is that traditional one run by Boseies. Hilton comes to it. I think Churchville there's multiple districts um for kids retaking classes. But we also have our alternative one that is for Greece only students and that might be for students who maybe need an alternative setting or
042they're deficient in multiple classes. Um and so we still partner with Boseies with that but it's all of our own teachers going in and doing it and it's for Greece only students. So when I think about those these programs collectively I really think about the strategic plan and how it connects to some of our key metrics in the strategic plan. One is graduation rate. So connected to this we had 40 plus August grads. um which is made possible in part by all the amazing work that our teachers are doing and all that time and effort and also that increase in ninth grade credits. Right? So those students who maybe struggled in nth grade with that adjustment to high school, this is an attempt to get them back on track so they can accelerate into their
04310th and 11th grade years. So I did see a slight decrease. You can see the total numbers here of courses which is a big number. Um but those numbers are down from last year. Uh which I actually consider a good thing, right? If we we don't have to offer quite as many remedial classes, that means hopefully fewer kids are not passing during the year. And world language credit recovery. This again is a high school or 80 go9 credit recovery, but Shauna runs this with just her team. And I really want to highlight here to me that's amazing. 24 out of 25 students who attended got their high school credit after attending that program. So that's 96% proficiency in the summer. That's out of the park. Um, and these were from our students who who didn't
044make it through during the year. So, kudos to that team and the amazing work they did. So, next steps, what are we looking for? So, there's always challenges, right? So, some of the challenges are always construction. So, we're always looking at what buildings can we even go to because we always got to make our buildings better throughout the summer. And so, there's those challenges and also with those challenges come the air conditioning challenges, right? So, it gets hot in the summer and oh, we can't use that building, but that's where the air conditioning is. So, we're constantly looking at that balance, trying to figure that out, communication with families. Um, so we're looking at better registration platforms and how do we communicate out and the way I think of it is a family normally my
045student attends one school during the year, right? They're going to Brookside, but in the summer they might be going to one school for the reading program, another school for the fun camp, and three different schools for the athletic camps. So, that communication can get very confusing. So we're constantly looking for ways to improve on that and develop systems so it's clear for our families and that partnership with Boseies. We have a great partnership with Boseies. They do great things, but anytime you bring in an outside agency, sometimes there's some some bumps in the road with making their systems work with our systems. So we're going to work on making that better for next year and just continuing to support and grow our programs overall. So thank you for the time. Any questions, >> Mr. Er,
046>> uh, thanks for the report. Uh, love to see all of this. Um, I'm wondering about the kids care and if we've got a waiting list for that in the in the summertime or if we're able to offer it to everybody who wants it. >> So, I'll have to get back on that. I think we can pretty much offer it for everybody. And they also have a way for financial assistance if needed for families. >> That's great. I had two other You want me to ask my other two while I'm at it or you want to go around? >> I'd like to go around if everybody has questions. Miss like >> well one at a time question. >> Yep. Because I want to give everybody an opportunity. One. >> Okay. Thank you for >> the
047report. And um it would be very helpful um to see to have the data bifurcated um between the maintain and the growth >> for our reading program in the summer. >> Yes. Okay. >> Yeah. And and those are very impressive, but yeah, >> you know, it it's good to see again, you know, we talked about the kind of growth and if we're seeing that same thing in the summer, that's really awesome. >> Yeah, I can work on breaking that up for you. >> Thank you, Mr. Farmer. Thank you, Todd. Thank you, Sean. I um over the weekend, my husband and I wanted to go do a little hike and we ended up at um Sawyer Park. >> Does our school do our schools do any kind We were in the in the woods and there
048was this tree that I had never seen in my life. It's called a um shag bark hickory tree. >> How cool is that? And I'm just wondering whether I mean that could be implemented within our summer programs for whatever reason. I remember as a kid we used to go there, but there's the water and the dam. There was a dam. It's a really and it's right next to arca atheina basically. >> We do a lot of field trips throughout the summer with our kids. I don't know. I don't know that that's one of them, but I can I can add that to the list. Um >> I think project based learning. So anyway, I just wanted to tell you that >> I can bring that up. And I know they they have some where they're
049getting out into the nature and and different parks and stuff. I don't know which places they go to though. So >> I don't either. I'm just thinking because it's in our community and it's kind of right next to Athena. >> Yeah. >> So and thank you very much for everything. >> Other questions, Mr. Baro? >> Todd, thanks for sharing all that information. I do have a question. Um, it's free. I'll accept the kids care. Um, and it's nice to be able to offer things without cost, but it's really not free. We have taxpayers. I I'm not correcting you on that. I'm just recognizing that our taxpayers do um pay >> for all these things and our taxpayers seem to have been >> they've been approving budgets. So, I mean, you know, >> they have an
050opportunity to speak out on that. But we also need to be respectful of them. I'm wondering, we could still keep all of this very um accessible, low cost in terms of what but would it make sense to ask people to even make nominal um payments to some particularly I'm thinking of those programs that are not specifically education focused. Uh I I just wonder if that wouldn't be some good stewardship on our part and also um show some some commitment from those who take part in it. Um we could do it in a nominal way and and even provide uh maybe needs-based scholarships for people who really can't afford it. But I just wonder if that's been considered. >> So every year we have that debate, right? I'll start my summer programming meetings for next year
051in about December, right? and we have these debates especially for our fun camps and our sports camps, right? Because those are not the the academic ones, the reading ones, we want to make sure everybody has access to those. So, we go back and forth in that. We can revisit that again that this year with the finance team and have those discussions. So, um but every year we do have those discussions and we just um the last couple years we've decided to keep that barrier removed for families. Um but we can keep revisiting that. I I just wonder if do board members have participation in the in those discussions um um when they >> they have not been part of that but I can talk to superintendent Smolen um about a process around that um moving
052forward for this year um for our planning sessions when they start in December. >> Okay, thanks. >> Okay, thank you Mr. >> Fel Todd. I really want to again thank the entire um program for what we've offered and what we've seen for the wide variety of opportunities for our students. I would like to say in my experiences having worked as a member of the Greece um you know school system the fact that a family comes onto our campus is a win and um all learning u is academic in my opinion. So, I would like um to applaud you for those efforts to support our families as much as we possibly can. And yes, I understand stewardship, but I think there's a dollar amount to kids who are coming and learning with us as well. So,
053I think we want to bear that in mind when you're making your decisions for next year. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Baller. >> Thank you. Um, I appreciated your mention of the connection between the uh the strategic plan metrics and and the ninth grade credits was something that you noted that I was going to ask about also >> because I know we've we're seeing incremental progress in that, not quite as much as we'd like to see in terms of on being on track to achieve the goal that was established. So I wonder if there's any opportunity to maybe do more targeted recruitment of students who might uh benefit from that or any way to increase the either the number of students who earn nu credit during the programming or students who participate in that over
054the summer. >> So I still will say one of the ways we're trying to get better at that is the continuity. So the benefit of so the traditional Boseis regional is like a standalone class. you come to that, it's basically like you're starting fresh in that class. For our credit recovery program, that's our Greece students. >> Um there's a continuation of the work they did during the year to the summer. And if they don't finish over the summer, they can continue that during the year. And as we continue to build um our scope and sequence documents and credit recovery programs in the district um and then our PLC process, I feel like there's that opportunity to make that more cohesive and continuous. So, it's very targeted to each individual student and it's not just this
055isolated thing I'm doing in the summer that's disconnected from the rest of the year. And I think that's the opportunity for us to keep getting better there to to do what you're talking about, make it more targeted. >> Great. >> Thanks, Miss Lake. >> The I Ready results, I think that's really good that the students are able to participate over the summer and connect with teachers. And I wonder if you've done anything with the results at the end whether there they've shown growth doing that. >> Yes. So for the I Ready for sure. Um we've been looking that more overall with the read connected to the reading program to see their growth in I Ready and in Earl um for the I Ready program specifically it's very hit or miss. We don't know how much
056students are participating in over the summer, right? Whereas the reading program we know they're there all the time. the I Ready program parents could be down in Florida visiting grandparents or whatever. They might be on once a month. They might be on three times a a day. So the data for that is not as consistent because it's providing that flexibility to families for usage if that makes any sense. So, I wonder if it's a model that might continue during the year, you know, to to um you know, I think kids might be able to connect a lot more if they had access to um you know, teachers also. >> Okay. Yeah. Outside the school days. Yeah. The community schools team's working on those after school opportunities to continue continue to provide that support. >> Good.
057Thanks. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Boro. You mentioned the u u the science of of uh reading u program um early on um information on page three. I want to commend you all for that keeping that focus even in even in the summer programming. Um I did a little bit of research and and connected with some folks who are familiar with it. UFFLI, University of Florida Literacy Institute and it uh it is by all measures all all accounts a really superb program. Um the the results and it's pretty new but the the results that are being generated um the equivalent to eight months of additional instruction for kindergarten and almost a year and a half of extra instruction for first graders. That's as a full tier one program. of course, we're using it in in
058our summer program. Um, and reading some of the comments on it, one of them that really jumped out, teachers love it. Um, and emphasizing that that when teachers can apply something easily and and uh just kind of buy into it. It just sound sounds really great. So, I I really appreciate that that's just adding on reinvesting further into the programming that we're we're already committed to. Um, and um, yeah, I guess that's that's really it. It's it's just it's it just shows the consistency. I I really appreciate that. >> I guess that was a comment, not a question. >> That's fine. I'll let it go. Any other questions? >> Just like >> the five go six. I I'm so excited you're doing that because I think that's, you know, I have such a heart for
059those fifth graders going six. So, um, thank you for doing that. And I wondered if you had results from that because it said you focus on the math and the literacy also. >> So, that was more for the seventh and eighth grade students. Um, the smaller pockets. So, the five go six students are really focused on that transition. >> Okay. >> And understanding building dynamics and how to do that. And then there are some smaller pockets of seventh and eighth grade students focused on the math and literacy skills. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Any questions? >> One more. >> All right. Go ahead. Um Shauna, congratulations with your whole language. I that's such an asset to the district and your um the committee I worked on where the kids are learning Spanish and English
060at the same time. I think it's awesome and it's it's a real selling point for our district. So, thank you. And it's nice to see they're catching up too in the summer. Thanks. >> All right. Perfect. Thank you, Ty. All right, moving on. 4.0T strategic plan update. Superintendent Smalling. >> All right, so this evening, um, cabinet will share an update on our strategic plan. Um, the data that you're going to hear tonight is our end of the year data from the 2042 school year. And, uh, each member of cabinet will share their part of the strategic plan update. So, come on up. Not you. You don't get to play. >> Sit back. >> It's going to watch us from afar. >> All right. Good evening. As you know, um, our strategic plan is our guiding
061document. It really anchors all of us into the work uh that we do throughout the year. It ensures that everybody who's a part of our system has a common understanding of our vision and mission. So something that we anchor into throughout the year. Tonight we're going to provide an update in key areas of our commitments and as you know our commitments as you see up here ignite learning, cultivate trust and expand opportunity. Um another thing that we focus on throughout the year as you can also see up here is our core values. So we really try to hold true to everything that's in the document um as we have these conversations throughout the year. So our first commitment, commitment one uh Ignite Learning, it outlines um the different ways in which we work as a
062system to show our commitment to fostering learning environments that best serve our students. So tonight we're going to update you on the aligned progress measures that you see here. uh we'll focus on professional learning participation inclusion for students with disabilities and some achievement results. Oops. So, first up we have our professional learning participation. So, this measure measure highlights our teaching staff and their commitment to engaging in professional learning. Um again, this is so that they can better serve students within their classrooms. This past year, we had 87% of our teaching staff exceed their contractual obligation um for engaging in PL hours. So, we're really really proud um that those numbers continue to go up. And um this shows um the actual um the actual metric for what they're required to do. So, teachers are required
063to have 10 hours of professional learning um in the area of choice. So they are choosing the additional things that they want to learn again to um make their learning environment, their classrooms uh places that better serve our students. So overall we are hovering at 97% of all of our teachers who have met or exceeded that goal and that's something that we're really really proud of. So the next metric in this commitment is our integration of students uh K5 special education students into general education settings. So those are students in the K5 level that are in special class. So 1211 811 etc. And any integration uh could be into a general education setting for a portion of their day. That could be a classroom. It could be a club before school, a club after school.
064really any part of the day other than uh recess or lunch. This was a focus for us the past couple of years, thus accounting for the jump from 42% to 58%. You will note that we stayed uh flat uh for this most recent academic year. Uh and really this is a goal that's it's kind of hard to say that we want 100% for this because each year the needs of the students will change. So for instance, students in the fourth grade level who may be appropriately integrated into a general education setting, uh they might determine the next year in fifth grade, the teachers might say, you know what, they're not really ready for that. So that really I we think is what accounts for uh that level staying flat. >> Hello. So you may know
065I think that I Ready is a diagnostic tool that essentially diagnoses students strengths and areas of need while also tracking their growth over time. Um and the primary purpose of I Ready is truly to um be used as a teacher tool for identifying uh current levels of students strengths and needs so that teams of teachers can tailor their instruction in order to match student needs. So for this point I ready really serves its purpose. So what you're looking at here in the blue is uh students who are um on grade level in September and then the red is midyear and the yellow is end of year. Um and what we see here is that each year year students in K through 8 are consistently demonstrating growth over the course of the year. Um and uh
066you notice a slight upward trend in yellow and then a little bit of a dip this year. Um, and knowing that the primary purpose for I Ready is to serve as a diagnostic tool for instructional decision makingaking, it really again is serving its purpose. Um, and it also is used as the metric that we use in our strategic plan to track growth during the regular course of the school year. So, how much growth, you might wonder. Um, and then we use this metric each year and we wanted to make a little bit of a distinction to be a little more precise with the language uh relative to what this metric is actually showing. So we've adjusted the language to indicate the math median growth outcome and the annual growth rate for K8 students as measured
067by I Ready. So 100 for example signifies that the middle students scored one year of growth. Half of our students then demonstrated more than a year's growth and half less. Uh we also added a metric uh to really paint a broader depiction of student overall achievement and proficiency instead of just the growth metric. So this demonstrates the math achievement over the course of the last five years. And we saw an overall increase in state assessment proficiency from 38% to 40%. And this is the metric that the state uses in terms of identifying uh targeted intervention supports uh for for accountability purposes as well. So I ready reading same tool uh it's used as a diagnostic tool for teachers to identify areas of strength and need and then the to tailor their instruction and we also
068use it as a growth me metric. So the blue here shows that 24% of students were on grade level in September. Uh the red 40% were midyear and um yellow uh 50% at the end of the year on grade level which is on par in terms of the um the state proficiency metrics. So it's a reasonable indicator of that and certainly we know we have continued growth to make when we notice uh 50% proficiency at the end of the year. Uh so we are continuing to invest in our professional learning communities and um uh the DEORE professional learning community model PLC release dates and all of those things that we've uh continuously been discussing in terms of our district improvement plan. Same thing here. We adjusted the language to be more precise and accurate to
069the ELA median growth outcome. So what we see uh is that 108 is the middle average student um and half of the students performed over a grade level's year of growth and half uh less than less than that. We added the state proficiency as well to really round out the depiction of um projected growth. So, so the metric from 32 to 37 indicates a 5% overall proficiency increase over the course of the year for 3 through8 uh state ELA achievement. And when we dig into that, we've seen marketked growth uh throughout many campuses and many grade levels. Um and the team is digging in real deeply to understand the factors that contributed to some of that 5% growth. And consistently what we're hearing from teams of teachers are around the opportunity to be able to
070collaborate during the school day uh to refine their instructional practices to better match and fit student needs and support through uh districts to assist with the data analysis process um and additional TA support so they can continue to analyze um the data and continue in that deor PLC cycle. So, thank you. >> Good evening everyone. Um, before I jump into the slide, I just do want to pause for one second and recognize Dr. Jeff Henley who's here. Um, all the charts and graphs that you see and all the data that gets pulled into this slideshow. Um, Dr. Henley takes care of all that and we put them through the ringer with about 40 different iterations of this before it gets to the final product. So, just want to recognize Jeff um and say we appreciate
071it. Thanks Jeff. Um so this metric here is um tied to a lot of data in um not only in Greece but around the country that shows a drastic increase in graduation rates for students who leave 9th grade with six credits or more. Um so this is not inclusive of the August um data yet. So this figure is higher when students enter 10th grade. Um but you'll see that we have just over 80% of our students at the end of June with six credits or more at ninth grade. Um and the slow increase uh has kind of caused us to think about how we can integrate this metric a little more into our school improvement work with some of the other achievement metrics. And now this is an option for um high schools to focus
072on with their commitment number one around academics. um really just kind of drilling into the intervention systems and the uh support around bolstering those credits for our ninth grade students. All right, so moving on to commitment two. Uh commitment two uh focuses on cultivating trust with our staff, students, and families. A few of the measures include staff retention and the positivity rating for our annual perception surveys. So, first up, we have staff longevity. Um, I just want to note here, I know the note is up there, but I just want to say it out loud that this data is pulled on Beds Day. Um, so Beds Day was just last week. We don't have this year's um data yet. So, this actually represents um October of 24. Um, but it will be fairly similar from
073year to year. So, longevity is one way that we take a look at staff retention, but we always like to talk about the other ways that we celebrate milestones. So milestones that include tenure, um reaching a civil service permanent status, which is a really big deal, and civil service title promotions. So those are all things that when we think of retention, um those are things that really play into um how we keep our staff and how we make sure that they continue to engage within our system. All right. So each year around January, we provide our district surveys. So that's part of a requirement through the ASA um from being a cited district, but it's also something that preceded that requirement that we were able to um provide surveys for several years now. So this
074is comparing the student positivity scores um overall in terms of who responded um agree or strongly agree to our questions in the areas of trust. So some of the examples are talking about if their school feels positive, um if they show respect to each other, if they feel connected to an adult and so you can see a steady increase over time um over the last four years to an 80% overall positivity rating from our students. You can also see that those questions um are similar than of what we ask of our staff of how they feel a sense of belonging or connectedness or safety within the school building. Um and so you can see that trend is similar in terms of increasing over time from 75% all the way up to 87%. So that's certainly
075something that we're proud of uh with the intentions that we had. And just for comparison uh purposes, we have seen the response rate remain steady over that time. Um just a couple um small window of variation between the response rates. Um positivity rating for parents who ask we ask similar questions with um special shout out to our community schools uh folks who have helped um increase this the our participation rate almost by double. Um so not only have we doubled the response rates to around 2,000 parents um over the course of last year to to this year or when it was given in January of 25 uh we've also seen the trend only grow in terms of the positivity responses from the parents who are taking the survey you >> all right so for the
076third commitment here. We're going to look at expanding opportunity and the metrics that go along with that, including things like our SEAL survey, student screener, um the college and career readiness index, um our community schools and our partnerships that go along with that, and then some information about our school clubs and activities. also will uh note the continued trend in growth in our active clubs from 22 to 23 um and in each year. So we are up both at the elementary and secondary levels. Uh same thing for the community school strategy with the lead innovators partnering with the district. Um we have consistently demonstrated growth and we know we lead that work from around the county. Um, and we're at the point now where we're really determining the efficacy and quality of our partnerships to
077make sure that um, we're not continuing to expand our lead innovator partnerships, but making sure that the partnerships that we currently have are still serving our community's needs um, with efficiency and effectiveness. All right. This uh college and career and civic readiness index. This is a New York State metric that's used for accountability purposes. Actually, it hasn't been used for accountability purposes for a few years, but they are bringing it back into the fold for this year. Um the way that this is calculated is it takes different um college and career aspects of the high school experience. Things like um diplomas, AP credits, CTE endorsements, seals like the seal of civic readiness, um seal of literacy. Um it takes all of those different um readiness measures they call them. um and it calculates the number
078of students demonstrating proficiency in those measures by the total number of students in the cohort and that gives each district an index score. Um then those index scores are all put into a ranking and then each district is given a leveled ranking one through four um similar to some of the other accountability metrics that um go along with our uh the identification structure in New York State. So what this means is um last time this was calculated in 2324 our rating of a 161 and change would have put us in the level three which is between the 50th and 75th percentile of schools in New York State. Um each fall we complete an SEAL screener. We also give that two other times throughout the year. Um so in the fall we um provide our initial
079screener which is our largest cast of um delivering um the assessments in the fiveCL categories which are um self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, relationships and decision-making. students answer questions to self-rate themselves in grades three through 12 around areas that measure these competencies such as how do they feel they're able to identify their feelings and connect it with their behaviors? How well do they feel like they're able to socially interact with their peers? Um and so they selfassess that. Of note, what's important is we also for K2 have um what's called the report card. And so teachers are also rating uh K through2 students on how they're able to do that through the report card. We made the screener optional for teachers in K2. Um and many are still choosing uh to to use this information which
080shows to the helpfulness of how each building team primarily the mental health team is using this data to create different interventions for students around the competencies so that we're able to help build the skills for them to connect with other peers to foster positive relationships positive decision- making and then their own um you know awareness of how um they are socially or self-awareness in terms of their identity. Any questions? >> Who's got questions? We're going to start with Bailey. >> Well, thank you guys for the great presentation. That was awesome. Um I wanted to comment kind of about the um perception surveys that we do. So, we took the panorama survey last week and I noticed from a lot of students it's about 30 questions and it's the like lowest answer is like um strongly
081negative and then the highest answer is strongly agree. So, it was 30 questions and the teacher is just like fill it out. It has to be done by everybody which I think has to be done by everybody kind of ruins the feeling of it. And I don't think students really understand what this data is used for because after filling out the survey, I talked to many friends and they were like, "It was way too long. I just clicked all positive ones because I didn't want to get called to the office that I was being negative." So, I think that letting I was wondering if there was a way to let students know what this data is used for and to get a more reliable um answer kind of to how students are feeling wise to
082hopefully u make the results more accurate for you guys. Well, and that is something that we're hoping that is happening during the block that occurs. And so I think that that's an area of opportunity that we've recognized and heard feedback from secondary teachers primarily around how we can make sure that it's being meaningful towards the life skills postsecary. And so I think the portrait of a graduate will help to bring new life to that in terms of how these skills actually will help for the future and making that connection around why that matters to build that. So your point is well taken and it's definitely something we've spoken about before. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> And Bailey, I have to say it's the best analysis of a survey I've heard in 18 years.
083Uh, Mr. Butler. >> Uh, thank you. So, on that on that same score uh um data point that we saw there, really stubbornly flat and uh that as compared to the positivity scores ratings which have been >> better. Um, so I was just wondering how you reconcile those two things. >> Yep. That's something we've talked a lot about. Um, so when you break down this, you definitely see discrepancies by grade level and within the competencies themselves. So we definitely see more variation than where you dig into the specific areas, but we have talked about why we think it is remaining flat. Um, if you also break it out by elementary and secondary, you see more variation. So that is something that we talk about in our elementary group versus our secondary because we definitely think
084there's different approaches around um the self- assessment component of that and also what teachers are seeing in terms of the report card. And so what we've sort of attributed that to is that we don't really have a ton of fidelity in the way that we're teaching it at secondary at this point. Um that there's definitely room to improve that to make the relevance more connected. Whereas an elementary school, it's definitely more relevant with the seven habits. It's um we have way more fidelity in that area. And so if we broke that out by elementary and secondary, the data would look different. >> Mr. Bonagoro, >> I'll stick with that that topic right now. First, I thought that the surveys were optional. I thought that we sent a note out. I am wrong on that. Okay.
085>> Yep. SoCAL screeners, we we treat them just like a diagnostic for reading. So we provide that to get an assessment and a dipstick around where students are performing and they're not anonymous. They're just like a reading diagnostic where we use that to inform interventions. So no one would get in trouble. It really would be how they assess that to then have a conversation with students and families and then the interventions themselves. We would have conversations with families just like we would around reading around engaging in those interventions. >> Okay. Um but can I ask him? >> Nope. >> Okay. >> Like >> why why bother? >> Um I I don't understand this figure. And if it's beyond me statistically, just tell me. You'll tell me some other time. But on page four, it talks
086about 75% to 90% and it's talking about ELA math and ELA and math achievement. Where what are those figures mean? >> Which one are we looking at? >> Page four. The last 75% to moving to 90%. >> 21. >> That's not proficiency, is it? >> The skull with the light bomb. >> Which one? for back >> other way. >> Yeah. Right there. She's talking about this >> the credit approval. >> Oh, so the the credit approval, Mary. >> No. Well, above it, it's got that doesn't pertain to the ELA and math. Just the credit. >> Credit acrual is a secondary metric. So, in the high school students exiting nth grade, the metric >> No, I see that. But >> so it doesn't pertain to what's above it, just what's below it. >> Yeah, >> correct.
087>> That's easy. >> Thanks, >> Mr. Farmer. >> Um, so I'm wondering, thank you very much. I'm wondering about the process or the requirements for professional learning classes and teachers choice. How does that connect? And I'm assuming it's all through frontline. >> Yep. >> Okay. So maybe Yeah. >> Yep. So every uh so once a week teachers are expected to engage in professional learning um within their building. I mean certainly more than once a week but by contract once a week. So it could be a staff meeting, it could be a department meeting, it could be a PLC or it could be choice PL. So, choice PL is um professional learning that they find in our catalog where there are hundreds of options. Or it could be something that it's, you know, I teach a
088oneoff. I'm a singleton teacher and I don't really have anything to engage with in there. I'm going to go find something and I'm going to ask for it to be put into the catalog and I'm going to engage in learning that way. just is there a um are there certain requirements that get these courses in the on front line or is it >> Yep. So our um our teaching and learning center works on um creating that catalog. A lot of it is is really built from our teachers and our administrators within the district and put into the catalog. And some things they have to meet um certain CTLE requirements to be able to be included in our catalog. >> Thank you, Mr. Binger. Thank you. I I um I'd like to go back to the
089uh the SAL screener. Um and I'm just I'm just wondering so you you're providing the average score is that K through 8? >> No. So it is for 3 through 12. >> Three through eight. Yeah. Three. >> And so it's the average score of all five competencies taken together. And that's the overall like positivity rating in terms of where kids self assess themselves within the five competencies. >> Okay. So that doesn't make distinctions between between a third grader and a ninth grader. >> Correct. Exactly. >> So do you look at that data as even tracking not >> I hope by name well maybe you do but >> but as individuals and and track how how their progression y has been. So this screener is relatively, you know, we've we've provided this since 2021 and every
090year we've sort of like leveled up in terms of folding this out. So prior to 2021, we did not give a screener. Um it was something we started right after COVID in terms of how we were going to identify students in need of an intervention, especially during that time when we felt there was a mental health crisis and students were not connected. So from there, we've really trained our teams to how to use this information and then if they get the intervention, they're tracking that over time. And sometimes we do meet with students and they're like, "Yeah, I just answered, you know, like this and I don't feel like I need an intervention and neither do parents." But it's at least a starting point to follow up if we see kids that aren't connected to
091anyone, don't feel like they have an adult, that we have a starting point at least to connect with them. And they might just say to us, "They didn't answer honestly." And that's okay. we at least have a way of screening out who might need more of a connection intervention in these skills. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Yep. >> Mr. Ber. >> Oh, I got it. >> Mr. Ber, I'll come back to you, Mr. Maloney. I'm sorry. >> Um, so uh this is for uh Gina, the uh longevity numbers that uh you saw there. I wonder uh I know they're a year behind, but I'm wondering if you're if you can say if there's areas where you're seeing the trends are positive in longevity in certain roles or where we where areas where you're concerned, right? So,
092um, as as we've spoken about when when I come up and I talk about staffing really and and kind of the nature of where we are in the world with hiring, um, this is a trend that we're seeing nationwide where it used to be fairly flat along the way and now we're seeing a much bigger increase of our newer staff. So, um, one of the things that, you know, we discussed was our our mentorship across the district, right? That's because we have so many new teachers and new staff that we're making sure that they're getting the supports that they need. So, the trend that we're seeing really is new hires. Um, one of the other trends that we're seeing is that the new hires that we have, especially on the teaching side, aren't necessarily new
093to the profession. So, we are seeing lots of people coming to Greece because they want to come to Greece. So, you might be a 10th year teacher and you're showing up on zero to five because you're new to Greece. So some of those some of those trends happen. I will say with our hourly wage employees um there's a lot more um transiency than there used to be you know five six years ago and that is really um just because we've seen the increase in minimum wage and hourly rates across everywhere not just in education but outside of education. So that's something that we continue to battle. We work really hard to make sure that we have great contracts here in Greece so that people even or especially our hourly wage employees come in and they
094know that it's not just about that $17 an hour. You're also getting lots of entitlements. You're also getting great health benefits. You know, all of those things really play into it. Um, but we are seeing a lot more flux in in staff >> and and so that's good for us. That's good for us to know as board members regarding the contracts that we uh approve and the uh and the compensation we're doing for our employees investing in things like professional development. I assume those are big drivers of longevity also. >> For sure. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thanks, Mr. Maloney. >> I have some questions around 8 n and 10. Uh the graph, the last one is the year 2425. It does show us on on page eight that it's 43%. It's down
095just 3% from the the following year, 1% from the year before that. It's not a direction that we're heading in, is it? >> No. I I Well, I think that's fair feedback and a fair wonder. Um this the primary purpose for the I Ready is to be used to track growth over the course of the year so that teachers can pull and diagnose where the students are at and then refine their instruction which is why we paired it with the state assessments where we notice um an upward trend in increasing proficiency. That metric is more valid and reliable in terms of student proficiency and um and really our tracking our our growth over time. and it's also the metric that we're held accountable to the state. >> So in in in on page nine where
096we went from 107 to 100, we're still at 100. Uh that that 7% doesn't mean anything or seven >> it's well these are also different um different kids that are group of kids that are testing. So I I would say we're curious to know is that a blip in the radar of a year, right? because we use this as um really just a a a dipstick to determine are we heading in one particular direction. When you zoom back and look, it's fairly stagnant with a little bit of an upward trend over the years. Um so Todd and I are and our team are continuing to remain curious about what that dip might be. if it were paired with a dip in um like if our overall proficiency on the New York State assessment also dipped
097then I think we would have a higher degree of concern. We're right now we're curious knowing hm is this metric um what is this metric telling us in teams and we know that our teams of teachers are going to work using um analyzing the state assessment data as a valid and reliable uh source for making sure that they're tailoring their instruction to meet student need. So, um, more to come in the future when we get additional, you know, more long-term data to see if this was a a one-off dip or if we're trending in that particular direction, in which case, um, that would be curious to know if this is the appropriate tool knowing that our state assessment proficiency scores are continuing to rise. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Yep. >> Mr.
098Following up on uh on that topic, um I would just like to recognize a couple of messages that that I'm hearing. One is yeah, there's a little bit of noise in the data. Um our our I Ready is maybe not moving in the right direction right now. Um but the state assessments had a meaningful increase and yet you've also acknowledged that we're not even we're not near where we want to be. And all of that ties into the work that we're doing with with um the uh the district improvement plans and and the school improvement plans. All of that ties into this. Um, I'll also note that the recently announced NAPE scores nationally, national assessment for educ educational progress were dismal. These aren't direct correlations, comparable tests, but there's some relationship and ours are moving
099in the right direction relative to that. So, I think that's some reason for for optimism. So all of that together would you and and we're in the early stages still of implementing our core. >> What what might be your preliminary assessment of the efficacy of that and how that may or may not yet be showing up in the data. >> Yep. So our I mean it's always best practice to use multiple measures of data when you're making any sort of hunch or um decision making around you know trends with student achievement and growth. um my personal opinion and knowing that we went into a greater level of detail previously around um around what is working when we zoom into that 5% increase in ELA proficiency from a 32 to 37% for example we know that
100at first glance 37% means we have work to do right there's still much much work to be done but when we zoom into that 5% and we start to pull out innovation and action um the data is still embargoed, so I can't speak too freely in terms of um of some of the remarkable celebrations that we're noticing, but whole schools and whole grade levels and teams noticing 10, 15, 20, 20 plus increase in overall proficiency. And when we dig into and interview teams about why, what's your hunches around why you think that this is um this is working, we're consistently hearing factors that are consistent with our theory of action. So for example um increased time for teachers to be able to collaborate in the PLC uh model through ignite tossas for example um we
101have uh PLC release days that where there's ongoing professional learning not only for leadership but teams of teachers to understand data on standards unpacking unpacking and data protocols. Uh the ARC core implementation is another huge one where over time we're seeing the longer that students and teachers are with ARC core the higher their proficiency is when we compare it to the overall district average. So my personal opinion is that we are on the right track and it takes time to continue to see 37 turn into 47 to turn into 677 87. But I'm very hopeful that our theory of action is solid and it's demonstrating growth um and really huge celebrations of innovation. >> What what we're what you're presenting here is not the the full story that you've shared with with the the board
102in um in study sessions. And there is I I have to say there is just a lot that you're doing that that is just not evident to everyone. and it's it's very impressive. So, I >> I appreciate you saying that. Thank you. Um, one thing that our team has uh wanted to be really consistent with in terms of our trust building with our board um and the community is to maintain consistency around the strategic plan um current metrics that you have been used to seeing over the years. Um, and at the time, you know, five six years ago when this strategic plan was being created, it was a very different circumstance. we were in the thick of COVID when for example state assessment baseline data didn't exist and the team had to work together to
103and we didn't know when the state exams were going to be coming back again. Um so they selected metrics that at the time were the sharpest tools in our toolbox for being able to measure and track student proficiency and growth. Um and as we head into the early stages of thinking into the future, what are the metrics that make the most sense now? We want to make sure we're balancing that by actually sharing information. um like the state assessment and achievement results because those are what we're held accountable for. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you all. >> Oh, sorry, Superintendent Molly. Um to your point Mark, I think what we have learned over um the past year or two actually, but really I think over the past year is
104that we make our biggest growth with our students when we invest in the PE in our teachers and the people in the building delivering the instruction, right? and and and that a curriculum can only do so much. Um when you have teachers that are empowered that actually fully understand the rigor of the standard um and they learn that on their own through collaboration and not through just read it in a textbook where that's where we've seen our biggest growth. Um, so I appreciate what you just said because behind the scenes when you look at a number like 37% or or 40% and you see 5% growth, what's not displayed in the strategic plan are the innovators in the classrooms that are seeing uh incredible growth. But that growth is really based on a team of
105people working together in collaboration to do what's right for kids. And you don't get that from a textbook all the time. You you don't. It lays the groundwork. It's the roadmap. But it's the above and beyond that we see our teams doing schools doing with the with the standards and the assessments and using the diagnostics like I Ready to actually pave the way of what they need to do for students. So, I really do and I mean I appreciate you calling that out in here because there is great work going on, but really the we give the credit to the the teachers that are believing in the work and the power that they have when they come together and collaborate to do what's right for kids. So, thank you for saying that. >> Thank you.
106>> All right, moving on to 5.01. Can I move the proposed 2627 budget calendar to the table, please? Moved by Mr. Butler, second by Vice President Stutzel. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing none, all's in favor? That passes nine to zero. Um, at this point, I'd like Mr. Butler to give his audit committee report before we move to these other items. >> Sure. Thank you. Um, I'm giving this on behalf of uh the committee and our chair, uh, Tammy Flores. And uh so we just met uh yesterday and uh the Tom Juber the partner at uh local uh audit firm uh MMB presented the external audit which highlighted the following factors or u pieces of information. One, the district is in a strong financial position. Uh and that that was uh no no surprise
107but but great to hear from an outside party. revenue that's coming into the district continues to be steady and and at predictable levels, which is good. Um uh it's also true though that expenses trended uh tighter this year um um largely due to the uh to the sunsetting of the federal uh influx of dollars that happened as a result of the pandemic. The reserve accounts uh that the district maintains are appropriately funded uh which is uh serves to insulate the district and our taxpayers from volatility at the federal, state and local levels. The district also continues to analyze and uh whenever possible reduce the local share of capital expenditures. Uh only one corrective action was noted by the auditors uh regarding the institution of a new time and attendance system that will give uh better
108visibility when approving employee time sheets. So the finance team uh received uh uh really high marks from the uh from the auditors. So we were really pleased to to hear that. In the meeting we also covered these additional items uh that uh we reviewed the past corrective actions um that had been identified with uh some of them being uh eliminated from the report due to being resolved by staff action. So again, uh, kudos to the finance team because the remaining list is much shorter than it was just just a couple of years ago, which is great. We also reviewed the claims auditor's reports and discuss some ways to potentially improve the clarity of that report being that uh, she's looking at every transaction essentially. Uh finally, we reviewed a draft charter for the audit committee
109and uh we recommend that the board uh accept the audit and the management letter and approve the audit committee charter as presented. >> Thank you, Mr. Butler. So with that, moving on to 5.02. Can I Sony move the 2425 audited financial statements? Moved by Mr. Maloney, second by Mr. Butler. Any comments, questions, or concerns on those? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes nine to zero. Moving on to 5.03, the acceptance of the 2425 communicating internal control related matters in the audit. Can I move that please? Moved by Mr. Butler, second by Mr. Baragorio. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing the in favor that passes 9 to zero and 5.0 or the audit committee charter. Can I have somebody move that to the table please? Moved by Mr. Butler, second by vice president
110Stencil. Any comments, questions or concerns on that? Seeing that none's in favor that passes nine to zero. Moving on to 5.05 tax certary settlements. Can I move those to the table please? Moved by Miss Farmer second by Mr. Maloney. Any comments, questions, concerns on those? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 9 to zero. Moving on updated yearly appointment. Can I so I move that to the table please? Moved by Miss Farmer, second by Miss Seaman. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing none, all those in favor that passes 9 to zero. Moving on to the change orders. Can I say so move those change orders to the table, please? Moved by Mr. Bonnagorio, seconded by Mr. Butler. Any comments, questions, or concerns on these? I'm just going to comment that these change orders
111amount to an $88,32 um charge to the district. With that, all those in favor? That passes nine to zero. Moving on to 5.08, 08 seeker approval for the playground replacement at Brookside Elementary School. Moved by Mr. Butler, second by Vice President Stencil. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing that all in favor? That passes 9 to zero. Moving on to the authorization for electronic procurement process and communications. Can I s move that to the table, please? Moved by Mr. Maloney. Second by Missike. Any comments, questions, concerns on that? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 9 to zero. Moving on to 6.01. 01 anticipated bids. It's written information only. Does anybody have any questions on that? All right, moving on to the consent agenda. Can I move the consent agenda table, please? Moved by
112Mr. Farmer, second by Vice President Stencil. Any comments, questions, or concerns on the consent agenda. I would just like to thank the extra classroom activity funds from Athena and Olympia for the donations they made to various things in their schools. Um, I'd like to thank the Greece teachers association and Jason Mter and the Greece community federal credit union for their donations to new teacher induction sponsorship. Uh, Nicer for their school bus safety celebration breakfast. The Greece Kuanas Water Club for their donation. Ben Berg, Christina Sers, and Jennifer Pasquali for their donations of instruments to the district. It is much appreciated and the board would like to thank you for that. With that, all those in favor? That passes nine to zero. Moving on to board committee reports. The board of education code of conduct committee.
113Mr. Bonagorio. >> Thank you, Mr. McCabe. Uh the board of education uh code of conduct committee had two meetings, two official meetings. Um first just being organizational. Um we have had uh four of our board members, um, Mrs. Leike, U, Mrs. Fazeroni, Mr. Butler, and myself. Um, Christine Baker, and Mark Fleming, uh, Mark Fleming attended, part of the committee. Uh, Jason Falkerson and Mike Ferris, uh, principles in the district. Uh, Brian Eertz, our GTA president who was here earlier. Um, appreciate him being there. uh and teachers Dan Neville and Holly Stener along with community residents Courtney Cardardo and Jabrell Bowens appreciate their participation as well. uh we've had um a thought survey uh among the the group of us to try to discover what some of the perspectives are regarding the code of conduct and
114um as you might expect there are a crosscurrent of of perspectives and uh understandably so we are uh we've had some discussions regarding legal obligations thank you to uh Mrs. Fzeroni and um and Dr. Baker um that were were uh helpful and and also had discussions about uh some of the realities um that our our teachers and we heard a story u this evening as well um regarding student behaviors. Um I think a lot of that is in a sense some needed pre-work to kind of establish where we are in in our thought processes as as a group of different people. Um our our goals uh are for at our next meeting is to is to narrow our focus um on ways to make the code of conduct more accessible for staff and for clarifying
115uh expectations of behaviors for students and and uh how to apply it uh in in ways that are consistent. Um, we've got uh I think we've got a good amount of work to do, but I think we also uh are are making progress towards some some actionable steps, but uh we're moving forward. >> Thank you, Mr. Browno. The district communication committee, Mr. Butler. >> Yes. Uh the committee met on October 1st and uh director of communication Laura Hayen shared an update on the district's transition to a new website which will be powered by uh apty. Uh the committee members got a sneak peek at the new design and the anticipation is that the new website will be ready to launch by winter break if not sooner. So committee has decided to look into the possibility
116of uh introducing a school to parent app. Some districts have that and that we're looking at here. We uh the group discussed the musthaves as well as some nice to haves in that conversation and things different things that an app like that could provide and the group is currently reaching out to vendors for demos of their their offerings. Next meeting is on December 3rd where will give a presentation on their school. >> Thank you Mr. Butler. Moving on. Superintendent Smalline, you're up. >> All right. Uh, well, I just wanted to start, I think, as you all could see from the posters that are out here in the in the gifts that it's uh well, it's board appreciation week next week, but we don't have a board meeting. So, we thought we'd do it early um
117since we won't be with you next week. But I just wanted to express um my heartfelt gratitude to each of our board members for your commitment to our students, to our staff, and to our community. Um what I've seen in my uh eight months, nine months, I think it is. Um that serving on the board of education is a tremendous responsibility and each of you uh volunteers countless hours every month to ensure our district continues to move forward. your dedication, your thoughtful leadership and focus on what's best for students truly makes a difference. Um I personally um um I'm especially grateful for the trust and support you show um and our leadership team and our teachers throughout the district and all of our staff and for the partnership that we share in this important work.
118Uh it really is an honor um to serve alongside all of you and and on behalf of the Gree Central School District. Um we're grateful for the for your work that you do um every time we're together. Uh I also want to put in a plug for partners in progress. So, we started this last year um when I came on during my entry um received some really good feedback and so we're continuing um this year moving forward. So, we're excited to invite families to our first Partners in Progress event. It's on Wednesday, October 22nd. It's from 5:30 to 8 at Olympia School Cafeteria. of the focus for that evening is family wellness and it will feature choice sessions on topics including uh digital wellness, mental health, substance abuse, uh prevention, restorative practices, sleep hygiene um
119and building social emotional skills. So what we hope is that families will be able to walk away with practical tools and resources to to support uh student success and well-being. Dinner will be provided. It's at 5:30. And also um we're inviting students. So students are allowed to come. There'll be activities for them. Um and free child care is available for potty trained uh preschoolers. Um so right now the registration date is set to expire tomorrow. You could register online. I'm working with that group to maybe extend that about a week out because we're a little bit low. But I'm hoping everybody home listening is going to the website right now and looking to sign up and register. So, um, looking forward to that. And that is the first of a few more series that we'll
120do later in the year. And before we close, um, I just wanted to take a minute, uh, a moment to recognize the incredible work of our facilities and operations department. So over the summer, um, their team worked tirelessly to ensure that our schools and fields across the district were ready to welcome students for many of our summer programs. So earlier this evening, uh, we saw just how many programs took place here in Greece during the summer months. And that success would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our facilities and staff behind the scenes. Um, and then following all that summer work, uh, they turn right around and have every building ready for the first day of school or opening day on September 2nd. I should have mentioned this at our
121September 2nd board meeting and I didn't do that and I wanted to take a moment today to publicly recognize the work that they do um because I am extremely grateful for the everybody in that department. So, a thank you to our facilities and operations team for everything you do to keep our schools welcoming, safe, and ready for learning. Thank you. >> Thank you to Super Molly, Student Representative Bailey. >> All right. Thank you so much. So, first I'd like to talk about the new safety screening protocol that has been implemented into all the high schools this year. Um, so I know most of the high schools started it last year at the end of the school year just to get um a flow of how it's going to go and see how the process will
122work for all the schools. Um, Athena started it in the first or the second week of school and it was definitely a h a hump to get over. Um, I talked to a few students from other schools over the summer and I was like, what worked best for you guys? How were things going? And a lot of the things that were being said was that getting into school was a a longer process to get everyone through and to make sure that people were getting to class on time. Um, but I'm happy to report that as of this week and last week, everybody who is coming into school on time is getting to class on time. It is an effective system. Um, we have amazing group of staff members out there every morning. There's happy music
123playing when we walk in and um just m moving the line along and it's just great to watch. I think students are really accepting it. I think there was a little bit of backlash in the beginning kind of an uncertainty. What are we looking forward to? Um but I think overall it's been really positive so far. Um in regards to the yonder pouches, I've seen a lot more students using them which is great. Um and really implementing that system. And there's um friends of mine that used to be so addicted to having their phone in school and now they're like I don't really think I need it like this. They've much more present in class which is really amazing to see. Um additionally this past month I attended a virtual student board representative member training.
124Um it was with 37 Boseies and around 600 student representatives around New York State. So very big committee of guest speakers who spoke a lot about the role of a student board representative and gave us a lot of feedback of what we can be doing in our districts to um hopefully be a voice for students. So one of my main takeaways was the best way to be a voice for students is to communicate with students. So I'm hoping to in the next uh couple months work with a few district student leaders um to collect student opinion throughout the district. Um, and something else that was talked about in the training was that the way of collecting information one way doesn't work for everybody. So that could mean meeting in small groups at a school. That
125could be sending out a survey to a random group of students. So it doesn't have to be everyone. It's if you're willing to participate and would like to put your input into things that we're talking about here on the board or just general concerns that students have that they want to be brought up. So thank you so much. >> You're not going to punish anybody, Bailey, if they don't fill out the survey, right? Are you? Okay. Just wanted to make sure. >> All right. Uh, board member comments. Who's up? We'll start with you, Miss Seaman. >> Thank you. Um, I just wanted to say I had the opportunity to go and visit Patty Hill Elementary. Um, and what a delight that was. Um, I was warmly greeted by not just staff and educators, but students,
126and you could just see, um, how engaged they were. class after class. Um it was just great to see that and when I when you go over your presentation and you talk about those wins. Um I could see it like these kids they didn't even notice like the door had opened and I you know got to look in. They were totally focused on what they were doing. So it was a great um it was it was very nice to go. So I enjoyed it. Tomorrow I'm going to Brookside. >> There you go. Thank you, Miss Mr. Baller. Thank you. Um, couple of things. I think uh we're all used to seeing the school buses on the road again now, but I just want to encourage everybody to please keep an eye out for those flashing
127lights and uh we want to make sure that all of our students and and bus drivers get to school uh safely. Um want to encourage everyone to uh take a look at the sporting events calendar. There's uh great exciting, fun, and uh cheap uh entertainment available um through those sporting events. If you've looked into buying a seat license at the new Bill Stadium, you'll see how cheap the uh Athena football games are. Uh so um and uh I also want to uh add um another invitation to the community to please get your tickets for Nonsense uh which is the first of the musicals uh coming out this season in the district October 24th, 25th and 26th, November 1st and 2nd in the Athena Forum Room which is a nice intimate space. you get to be
128really close to the performers and uh it's a it's a great space to be and and one of our board members is going to be uh in that show I understand. Um and no it's not President McCabe in a nun costume but uh but our our our own Bailey uh Kina I think is in the show. So uh um I would invite folks to come out for that. And uh I just want to say you know I know pride is the theme for this year and I come away from today's meeting really proud to be uh a part of this district. I think that's not because everything is perfect, but it's uh because even those things that aren't going the way we want them to go, we look squarely at them and we uh and
129we work to make them better. So, I'm I'm really proud of the of the team here and uh and all that our students uh are accomplishing. So, >> thank you, Mr. Fer. >> Mr. spells. Um I want to echo the sense of pride in that um I too had the great honor of visiting um English village school and was invited back to attend their first meeting of their cub council which is truly leader and me in action um empowering our students to take leadership roles and then turnkeying it and taking um students within the building out to the playground and through the cafeteria to talk about what's what's um good behavior and responsible behavior having them take ownership of the leadership and for my own um sense of pride in that short visit I was
130able to make a personal connection that someone had gone to school with my own daughter and that um that I had actually taught one of the teachers there and knew her mom when she was a secretary in one of our buildings so it felt like a homecoming and it was completely spontaneous and I enjoyed that tremendously also had the opportunity to visit with Athena High School my other school and attend the homecoming game we did not farewell against Wester on Mr. Mr. Smalline. Uh, however, >> I know a guy. >> However, you know a guy um Mr. Smalling's son um was his name was announced many times on the announcers. He's a very good player and uh we came up on the short end of the stick that night, but proud nonetheless we were. Um
131I also am continuingly to be continue to be impressed by our students. Um I saw students um from our district in different scenarios over the past few weeks and it's just incredible what you see our kiddos doing. Um I was invited to attend a Bosey's open house for students who are pursuing careers in agriculture. So, of course, my interest was peaked and I was able to go to the Springdale Farm and of the uh openhouse presentations that I viewed, two were by um our uh Greece students, Athena and Olympia. Could not have been more um um filled with pride for how they presented themselves and have interest in a career that you don't always see as being glamorous but so desperately needed. And I again took photos and shared with them just how proud I
132was of their choices and how proud we are to be able to partner with Boseies to be able to offer students opportunities that truly excite them and um and create um interest in their lives. So that was a great opportunity and uh also had a chance meeting with a student um who we were having a conversation and I come to find out that this young lady working at the counter um at one of the delies in town um u I mentioned so what high school do you go to and she said she was at Athena and we had made a connection that she volunteers at the journey home hospice with her mom again just a everyday ordinary exchange with students and they're out there doing amazing thing. So when you say what's the profile of
133a Greece student, it's any and all things um and just for the betterment of this of this world. So I just thought that was amazing. Um and I want to shout out too to Shauna and the team for hosting a Hispanic Heritage event last week. And there's one tomorrow night also. I think Odyssey is hosting one. Is it tomorrow night? >> I think so. Yeah. So if I'm wrong, Hottie, please correct me, but I think that's tomorrow night. So um again, huge points of pride um for what's happening in our district. Thank you, >> Mr. Bongorio. Just real b real real briefly, I do want to say thank you to all the people who who shared uh their appreciation with us and showered us with uh love and gifts and all this. It's it's really
134it's really nice. Uh so, thank you um all you folks. Um, I also do want to take a moment to acknowledge the mom and and student who who spoke earlier today. Um, didn't want to include this in my earlier comments uh regard regarding the code of conduct work, but uh we take those stories really seriously. I know. Yeah, we do. We all do. Um and uh I want to assure her from my from from me that it is our goal to make our schools places where students and staff not only are safe but can feel safe. Um this is this is really serious business. It's important to maintaining uh a productive classroom and school bus environment and all of that. So I just want to again say say thank you. Um I don't recall the
135the name but uh the mom and and her son for for attending. So thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Miss Lake, >> I'd like to reiterate um what Mark said about um the resident who came in today. um we aren't allowed to respond, but it doesn't mean that we don't respond together and talk about these things. They make such a difference. It takes so much courage for residents to come in and talk. And there are so many stories and I just really applaud those who come in and and and take that step. And so many of the times we don't really know what's going on in the daily um runningings of the school and and children's lives and and that safety is such an important aspect and when that's not there, it's really difficult
136for for kids to pay attention to academic performance. Um that adrenaline drip when you never know what's going to happen. um you know does not do much for instruction. So um my thanks for the mom to come out and everyone else who does. Um also the marching band that we loved so much the Tuesday before school started. They're going to be performing at Athena October 18th. So, if you have little kids, grandchildren, I think if they see that, they're really going to want to do something like that. Um, I'm delighted to see our parliamentarian here tonight. Um, and I hope we don't bore you so much. Um, but, um, we might be able to, uh, muster up a little argument that you can help us with. So, just, uh, hang in there with us. Um
137these gifts are amazing and and going to the schools is amazing and the hugs from kids absolutely amazing. Um so I went to Homes Road and um had a great time two weeks ago and so the principal gave me several opportunities because I said I I didn't last year I didn't have my act together and I really want to connect with these schools on a regular basis. So he gave me a list of things and I'm thinking about them on the way home and I thought, "Wow, they're having a leader in me presentation of certificates the first Thursday of every month. I'm going to go." And so I texted him and all set to go and I got there 15 minutes early. He was so gracious the week before. He didn't seem really happy to
138see me. I mean, not quite as happy as he was before, but that's okay. So, I went to the cafeteria and I'm sitting and waiting and one of the adults came by and I said, "Is this the first assembly this year?" And she goes, "Yes." I thought, "Oh, this is a K through2 building." They were all in the cafeteria on the floor and the board's members sitting there and I thought, "Oh, this was not a good idea. I mean, at least skip the first one and go to the second one." So he came in and I love this man. He doesn't wear jeans so I couldn't wear jeans. I had jeans on the first day I went and I thought because he talked about how never mind. Anyway, I didn't wear jeans. Um so he
139comes in and these kids are like, you know, a litter of kittens, several litters of kittens. And he said, "Good morning, boys and girls. Good morning, Mr. Kean. And then he and this amazing vice principal who's like the Energizer Bunny raised their arms like this, like that. And the kids all stopped. They stopped. I could not believe it. I mean, they were still kids and moving, but it was just just amazing. Um, so I I really appreciate um him allowing me to come on that to that first assembly, but it was great. And by next summer, I will know those seven things. You know, the sharpening and that all. >> You know what I mean? Yeah. Yes. I will know them because those kids will know them. And if I those kindergarteners learn them before
140I do, that will be humiliating. Um Bailey, it's so nice to have you here. When I first heard we were going to have a student member, I thought, "Oh, no. Give me a break. Well, Silas was wonderful and you are wonderful and you're much cuter than he was. So, um, he was cute though. I mean, he was very cute. Um, >> you're killing me, Mary. You're killing me. >> That's my job. Mr. McCabe, >> you're getting close to just being starting. >> I'm all done. >> Good night all. >> Miss Farmer. I'm going to follow that. >> I know I'm not a comedian. I'm a terrible storyteller unlike Mary who's wonderful. Um just like Mark and everybody else. What a nice surprise to come out here and and feel valid, you know, valuable and appreciated
141for our seeing our presents here. It's always like Tracy, it's not Christmas. Stop digging through everything. Al also visited with uh Principal Jones at Olympia which was my alma mater. Always a good remi reminiscing time and looking forward to the homecoming football game on Friday on this this Friday. Also was at the open house the eel early learning center. The kids I got there a little early. I rode my bike up there and I'm looking around. so many kids and so many people, parents, everybody's happy and smiling. It was it was lovely. I was glad to be there. And I I um they had some partnerships there and there's a uh it's called love start and it's a partnership with parents and families and uh seven sever seven steps to support healthy development in early
142years. I met uh the woman, the young woman, Anna Lorenza, who was the early child project coordinator. It was really good to see these kinds of efforts in our schools that bring in families and bring in parents um to you get involved with your kids' schools and we're going to see kids be successful and achieve. Um I also want to talk about the program for our owls and our annals and and certainly achieves each and every child is special who deserves to be treated with dignity and allow all their specialness to shine regardless of their place of origin. It is our young people coming together for our future that will make a difference to the future of our community for the benefit of all of us. So to Shauna, your department does a wonderful job
143and thank you for that. Um, and that's pretty much it. I did see did watch a movie called The Lost Bus and it was about a a loosely based on the fire in Paradise, California several years back. And it was the story of a teacher and a bus driver who were driving through flames to save the and I don't know how much you know this was um true or or to the point but the idea was that the teacher and the bus driver who worked together who put their own family second to save essentially save these children on the bus just reminded me of the passion and the dedication that our school staff and our teachers and the bus driver here have for our children and how grateful we are that they do care about
144our kids when my kids aren't with me when they were little to know that they were being taken care of in ways that were um just as good as me as the parent. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Armor. Vice President Stencil, >> do you have anything? >> No, I'm sorry. Go ahead. No, you can go. >> No, I'm fine. >> Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure. >> Yeah, I didn't see him with his hand. So, >> I'm listening. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. President. I first wanted to start with Bailey, and it's it's always a joy to have you here um at the the first meeting. Um, thank you for sharing your perspective on the screening tools and whatnot. I hear it from my daughter, so that's one perspective, but it's
145nice to hear it from an outsider in that sense. and you know to just really um see the support that it's it's gained and that it's actually a benefit to our our district and whatnot. So, thank you for sharing that and keep sharing those perspectives. We like to hear that here. Um kind of segueing off of that to borrow from what Mark and and others have said, um for the parent who came and I don't remember their name, but I appreciate having that individual have the bravery and the courage to come up and speak there. I'll tell you what, when you're sitting up there with the big three minutes behind you and around you, it's terrifying. I don't know how else to describe it. All right, it's intimidating. That being said, I could tell they
146were very emotional. There was a lot going on there. I would be too if I was in the same circumstance. Um, I want to just say to that individual, we hear you. I'm I know from the people I work with on this board and in the cabinet that stuff will be done about it. Um, and we take safety very seriously. Um, as testament to what Bailey had just said with the with the security systems that we have up there. You know, nothing's perfect, but we are ever going toward a better district. And I know that just from the work I've done with the board, the cabinet, and other staff members. So, I um I just want to let you know you're heard and um things are getting going to get better. I also want to
147take a moment because it is the board appreciation that we're doing and and thank you to the cabinet, the staff, and the students at the different schools who put this beautiful stuff together for all of us. It really is um special. It truly is. I remember last year when it was my first year here. I don't know why because I had been going to board meetings for a long time and I should have thought about it, but coming in here and seeing all of this really just blew my mind and even tonight it blows my mind. I'm like it it makes us feel very appreciated for really a thankless job that we do, you know, as elected officials who don't get paid um and do spend. I jokingly tell my significant other who's in the
148audience that, you know, this is like a second full-time job on the three other jobs I have, right? So, it's just something that that goes without saying. And I I really want to extend my appreciation to my fellow board members here. Um, I may be one of the quietest people up here on the the dasis here, but I want to let you know that I always have my active listening ears on and I'm always listening and absorbing as much from you as I can so that I can be a better leader and I can be a better colleague to effectively work with you on building relationships, building rapport, um, and g and getting things done that we need for the district. I also want to take a moment and thank the the cabinet here. The
149information that you've shared with us over the last few weeks has been nothing short of amazing, mind-blowing really. Um just seeing over the last few years, the trajectory we're going on is truly incredible. And it's your leadership, your stewardship of the district along with the board here to support you in any way we can um that is truly driving this. And I I just love it. And you know, that's not even just to say that the it's all coming from leadership. It's everyone in the district, the staff, the you know, the teachers, the people in operations and whatnot. They're doing this every single day. And it's nothing short of a miracle watching them put all this together. Truly, a district this size, I can't even imagine, you know, being in their shoes. So, I just
150want to as much as it's an appreciation to us, I'm giving that appreciation back to you because without you steering the ship, um none of this would be possible. With that said, um yeah, thank you everybody. >> Thank you, Vice President Stell. Um I'm just going to echo the comments. Board recognition week, I mean, like um Jordan said, there's a lot of time, all of us put a lot of time in those sort of volunteer position. We don't expect anything out of it, but it is truly appreciated the tokens that we get from our buildings and the posters and the notes from our students. I mean, I save a lot of the notes and read them throughout the year just because when you're having a bad day, it's something nice to read that people appreciate.
151Little kids appreciate you. You're making a difference in their lives and I truly enjoy that. Um, I also want to give a report on act for education. Um, I received this from our representative on there. Beyond the Bell, they're still looking at doing a hiring campaign in the spring. Um, and they're hoping to get more like our partnership with Bob Johnson. They're hoping to get more partners like that into Act for Education and get more businesses on board. I also um attended a couple schools. I went to Lakeshore. Um, had an outstanding visit at Lakeshore. I love Lakeshore Elementary. It's just a great school. Um, and I got to see a assembly they had with a with an individual they wrote to over the winter and through the spring. So, it was really neat to
152watch that and watch the interaction. It's a great building. I was at Athena Middle today with Mi Mr. Wenhor, the first year principal, um, our second year principal. He he did an amazing job or a year and a half. What's it a year and a half he's been there about, give or take. Um, but he has a desk in the hall and him and his team, him and Mr. Bracy I met with this morning and they're in the halls and they're I watched the passing time and they're running a tight ship. I mean there's nobody late to class. They're hustling the kids along. There's a lot of coaching going on. Went and lunch. I can't believe for a middle school cafeteria how quiet it was. I mean it was awesome to be in there and
153the kids, you know, going out to the bathrooms and doing things they had to do, you know, with their e-ass system. So it was a great visit at the Middle. That building's doing good things. Um I'd also like to recognize Athena Middle and Autumn Lane. and they're both finalists for the best public schools in Monroe County. We'll be recognizing them at our next board meeting. So, it's awesome that two of our schools, a middle school and elementary school, are on that list. And I'd also like to give a huge shout out. She does an amazing amount of work in this district um from a community school standpoint. Kelly Spurudo. I don't know if she's ever not working. Um, but she was recognized with the Chuck Kumali Youth Advocate Award, which is a pretty significant award,
154and I just want to give a shout out to Kelly for all she does from a community school standpoint. Again, I was really skeptical when this community schools thing started, but I see the true value in it and the good that it's done over the years. And it's, as a board member, it's one of the most one of the things I'm most proud of that we did as an initiative in this district. So with that, Mr. Maloney, >> maybe I won't screw this up. >> I have full faith in you. >> I'd like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting. >> Very good. Seconded by Mr. Bagorio. Everybody's always in favor. So, thank you everyone. Have a good night.