001Martha was someone who held students accountable while also making time to truly listen and offer offer support. Behind her tough exterior was a heart full of compassion. One colleague aptly described her as a tough cookie on the outside but a marshmallow on the inside. Martha will be missed by many. We ask that you keep Martha's family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. Our community is grateful for her many years of service and the lasting difference she made in so many lives across our community. Thank you. Algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Could I could have somebody move the agenda table, please? Moved by Vice President Stencil, seconded by
002board member Seaman. Any additions, corrections to the agenda? Seeing none, all those in favor of the agenda that passes 9 to zero. Moving on to our union comments. Mr. Lum from GASA, welcome this evening. >> Good evening. Thank you uh for having me this evening to share out on our GASA updates. Um many individuals think, okay, it's summer. We get to breathe maybe for a week. That's about it. After that, it is very busy times and we're back to work. So, I wanted to take an opportunity tonight just to share all the wonderful things that our guest and members have been doing this summer to prepare for tomorrow's opening with kids. And over the summer, we focused on several key areas that set the stages for this coming school year. We look closely at student
003behavior and safety, refining systems to support a positive school environment. We examine student attendance and overall well-being, making sure supports are in place to keep kids engaged and connected. Instructional updates were shared to strengthen teaching and learning. And our SIP and SEP work kept us aligned on high leverage goals for improvement. We also spent time on our leveling up campaign to initi initiative to raise expectations and opportunities for students. And finally, our summer programs provided targeted support to help students stay on track and be ready for this year ahead. In July, our administrative unit spent dedicated time developing school improvement plans and department goals. This work was driven by student data aligned with district priorities and created collaboratively across schools and departments. By narrowing to a few high lever goals, we established a focused roadmap
004for the year that keeps equity and student success at the center. This proactive planning ensures staff start the year with clarity, consistency, and direction. And we'll continue to monitor progress and provide the board with regular updates. Uh in July and August, we participated in our annual leadership week. Gas members and our guiding coalition spent a week together focused on leadership development. We had the opportunity to learn from Jasmine Kouler Koular who pushed us to think deeply about what it truly means to lead. The week emphasized that leadership is less about position and more about influence, trust, and empowering others. This experience gave us a common language and a stronger foundation to guide our improvement work this year, ensuring that each of us is better prepared to lead with clarity and purpose. And in August, our
005circuits work this year centered around six key areas that built the foundation for success. We focused on student behavior and safety again and refining systems that promote a positive and secure environment. We address student attendance and well-being, ensuring supports are in place to keep students engaged and connected. Instructional updates were shared to strengthen teaching and learning, while our school improvement plan and SEP work kept us aligned on high leverage for the growth this year with our leveling up initiative. And we are raising expectations and opportunities for all Greece students. And finally, the summer's preparation has provided an invaluable knowledge strengthening our commitment to student safety, academic excellence, and equitable access to resources. The GASA Union looks forward to collaborating with the board and district leadership to implement these initiatives successfully and foster a supportive and
006thriving environment for the upcoming school year. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Long. Have a great day tomorrow. >> Residents Forum, Mr. Watson, welcome this evening, sir. you come right up to the microphone here. >> Uh, thanks a lot. Uh, appreciate this opportunity and, uh, I heard I got 120 seconds, but I also heard that I had three minutes. I'm going to be very, very brief. Uh, uh, my name is Edward. I'm 66 years old and I, trust me, I believe in u taxpayers paying lower taxes. Um favorite persons David Stockman and Scott Bessett um Treasury Secretary for Trump and I am a Republican. Um anyway uh coming uh to bring to your attention several incidents. Uh I'm no longer with Ontario bus. I was told that I can't uh be specific and
007name names, so I won't. on on June 24th, um a driver left a special need kid on the bus uh at Dwey Avenue. One of the residents called the back of the bus and got in contact with people at Ontario. They fired the driver immediately, but Ontario bus did not notify the transportation department. They was unaware of it. I called the transportation department. I can't say the names that I spoke to an condition that they told me. I can't mention people names. Um and they was unaware and there's investigation going on that with that issue. Police wasn't notified. The parents wasn't notified about the endangerment of the child. We had state police come to Ontario to arrest a guy who was a child molester. Me myself, I got paperwork where I caught COVID and I'm
008supposed to quarantine 5 days and it's a Friday and Friday at usual at Ontario bus nobody comes to work. They got incentive now they give you 250 a month if you come to work but most people don't come to work on Friday. It's most a lot of African-Americans most a lot of Hispanic uh work there and um I caught COVID and I was forced to come to work on day five. I got the paperwork there uh to authenticate that we have people on the bus uh can't speak English. Uh I I got a CDL class A and and I have to stick to every restriction with DOT, etc. But we have people uh transporting special need kids and uh they can't speak English. We got medical supplies. We got people that artistic. We got people
009with all types of u um abilities. I say abilities. and they're not getting assistance. But here's one good thing. The taxpayers of Greece will save a lot of money by contracting this bus company at the expense of what? I'm here because I can no longer take it anymore. Somebody need to investigate this company. This company is uh started out eight years ago, we had 10 people. We 400. And they're not doing a good job. And I come here to let you know that they're not doing a good job. Uh uh they're putting I put I'm sorry. I'm I don't have much wages. I didn't make the right decisions uh with my money. So I felt like I was forced forced to stay there and I could infect everybody in this community with COVID. Got the
010letters here from my doctor saying it. They forced me to come to work and I quit. >> Thank you, Mr. Watson. Thank you, sir. Have a good evening. >> Republican all my life. >> Keep it. >> Thank you. >> Have a nice day, too, guys. >> You too, sir. All right. Moving on to 2.1 2.01 staffing. Can I so move that to the table, please? Moved by Mr. Butler, second by Vice President Stencil. Any comments, questions, or concerns on staffing? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes nine to zero. Moving on to tenure. Does anybody have any questions? Can I have someone move tenure to the table, please? Moved by Miss. Second by Vice President Stencil. Any comments, questions, or concerns on tenure? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes nine to zero.
011Moving on to anticipated bids. It's written information only. Does anybody have any questions on those? All right. Seeing none, can I so I move the consent agenda to the table, please? Moved by Mrs. Farmer, second by Mrs. Like. Any comments, questions, or concerns on the consent agenda? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 9 to zero. Moving on to 10.01. You have the updated 2526 board goals in front of you. Can I have somebody move those to the table, please? Moved by Vice President Stencil, second by Miss Seaman. Any comments, questions, or concerns on those? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes nine to zero. Moving on to superintendent comments. Superintendent Smalline. >> Well, that was fast. >> You said you wanted to be done early. >> I I did not say that.
012[Laughter] >> All right. Um so as many of you know today was um our opening opening day ceremony for staff. Um opening day is a annual tradition in Greece and it is one of my uh favorite ways to um begin a new school year. I will say this was my 20th opening day uh opening day. Today felt a little bit different um than the previous 19. Um but um our theme this year, as you could see from a lot of our t-shirts, is that we are Greece proud. And as um superintendent, I could not be more proud of this district. And um and all the staff that make this this district great. Um our teachers, our staff, administrators are ready and eager to welcome back students tomorrow. You could actually feel the anticipate the anticipation
013in um in our buildings and throughout our district. There's a sense of excitement knowing that our students will be walking through our doors in um just a few hours. Um next, as as many of you already know, our director of equity, uh Dr. Cedric Simmons has resigned. And I just wanted to um take a minute to thank Dr. Simmons for his work since coming to Greece and the impact he that he has had on our students, our staff and our community. And I um along with all of cabinet and the board want to wish him well in his new position at Nazareth College. I also want to take a moment um to reaffirm something that is central to um who we are as a district. While we acknowledge the resignation of our director of equity,
014our commitment to equity as a core value does not waver. Equity is not the responsibility of one individual or one office. It's the shared work of every member of our district. It's reflected in how we serve our students, support staff, engage families, and make decisions. Our efforts to ensure that every student has access to the opportunities, resources, and support they need to thrive will continue with the same focus and urgency. And finally, I would like to welcome our new student board member, Bailey Catina. Bailey is a is um a senior at Athena High School and is extremely involved in the Athena community. Bailey has performed in musicals since 9th grade. Uh participate participates in choir show choir and has been dancing since she was four years old. Okay. Um she is part of the above
015the influence club which advocates against teens substance abuse. Also you can hear her every morning at Athena over the PA as she does the morning announcements. I am I've had the opportunity to get to know Bailey over the past year now and I'm extremely excited to continue our work together and looking forward to our partnership. So, thank you for being here. Bye. >> You're up. Bailey. >> All right. As Mr. Smalline said, my name is Bailey Cina and I am a senior at Athena High School. I'm excited for my senior year and all that it brings, including school events, uh, college applications and stepping into this position as student board representative. This is an honor for me because I have been a part of the superintendent advisory council, otherwise known as TESAC, um, since my
016sophomore year, and I can't wait to be able to share our group's thoughts with the members of the board of education. Every month we meet and it is so amazing to be sitting in a room with so many influential students and just getting to hear what they say and how we can use our ideas together to create some great change. Um, as I was saying, student voice and making others feel seen and heard is so important to me. I live by the motto that it costs nothing to be kind. So, I think listening to each other and um just hearing each other out and is so important. So I look forward to this opportunity to talk to more students and really use this position to help share student voice. So as further ado, welcome back
017everyone to the 2025 2026 school year. Let's have a year filled with school spirit, respectful behavior, making memories with friends, treating others with kindness, and pushing ourselves to be the best we can be. Whether that's physically, mentally, or academically. Let's have a great year. So thank you so much. Thank you, Bailey. Board member comments. You're so happy. I'm gonna have to invite you to every meeting. Um, board member comments. Does anybody have Mr. Butler? >> Thank you. Uh, I want to say welcome, uh, Bailey. I'm, uh, glad to be sitting next to you for this board year, and I promise to try to keep up with the acronym, help you keep up with the acronyms as long as I know what they are. Uh so um we're really glad to have you have you with
018us. Your perspective is so important. So please uh share your voice. Um I want to um echo the super from the board's perspective. I want to echo for at least from this board member's perspective echo uh the superintendent's comments about um our uh director of acu equity uh who just uh recently left and uh and the commitment that we continue to have as a district to that is something that is very important to me. It's one of the reasons that I joined this board or or ran for this position and it's something that I I promise that will not go uh wanting uh given the the absence of a person in that role uh temporarily. Um I want to uh um say uh one thing if you haven't seen the board goals that we just
019approved um it was a great collaborative effort uh by the board in putting together uh a set of goals that I think will serve us well this year. And uh um one thing we heard at the uh opening day ceremony today was a reminder of how long we have been uh benefiting from the leadership of uh our board president Shawn McCabe. And uh and one of the goals that we established was because Shawn isn't going to be in that role after this year a uh commitment to spreading that expertise across the rest of the board. So a shared leadership model. So, um Sean, thank you for your uh um for your continued service and uh um we're looking forward to trying to trying to fill your shoes. Um the uh I want to add um
020the uh how how amazing I thought the opening day ceremony was today started with the uh the Star Spangle Banner from the a capella group from uh Olympia which uh it was amazing. It was like 38 part harmony or something and it was uh really really impressive. Gave me gave me chills. followed up by the marching band which uh was an was equally amazing and impressive and I thought uh Jeremy's uh speech about prere uh certainly was easy to feel pride in in the students in Greece after seeing those two displays of talent. So uh that's a a great way to start off what I hope will be a great year. So I wish all of our staff uh faculty and uh um uh and and parents and students a great school year. >> Mr.
021farmer. >> Thank you. So, um I echo a lot of what you said. Um I So to our classroom teachers, you make the world go round for our kids in school. We have support staff. We have administrators, but it's you who are in our classrooms working with our kids. Um for me, it was Mrs. Zimbrech when Margaret, my best friend in kindergarten, taught me how to tie my shoes. Mrs. Panzerella reading groups at the horseshoe table. Mrs. Palumbella second grade. Mrs. Spencer when we learned how to read and write the mysterious code of cursive in third grade. We all have memories of our days in school and it is truly the educator who spends their days in the classrooms giving their best. Hearing Superintendent Smallen and other leaders talking about your passions, your love for
022kids. All kids are welcome. And then to see and hear the marching band, the beautiful voices singing our national anthem was truly a moving morning and a perfect way to start our school year. I look forward to the new school year and the relationships and learning that will happen in our classrooms because of because of our dedicated and passion teachers have for our kids. So God good all of you have this wonderful amazing 2526 school year. I appreciate those who are who are stepping in and and taking on extra um pieces of of of the the work to be able to make sure that our kids are successful and they're safe and sound. And um I'm happy that we had this great great opportunity before this public meeting to look at our board goals and
023and figure out how we as a board are going to be committed and transparent and trustworthy to the community. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Farmer. Any other board member comments? Mr. Baggario. >> Thank you, President McCabe. Um, I'd like to take a moment to just provide a real quick update on the board uh code of conduct committee which met uh for the first time last week. It was a real simple task which was to set up uh really the primary goal set up a schedule for upcoming meetings. Our our plan is to meet uh try to meet twice a month uh and report back uh to the full board uh by the end of January. Uh our our charges to uh review uh the code of conduct and uh u factors leading into it feeding
024into it uh to make any any possible recommendations or come back and say no, we're we're good. Uh but uh we're we're uh we'd like to let me step back a second and just identify uh committee members. There are 11 of us on the committee. Uh three three of my colleagues on the board are joining me. Board member Butler, member member Ly, and member Falserano. Uh along with Dr. Baker from the cabinet, and I'm going to stick with my uh titling, uh Dr. Fleming. Um we also have um uh principal uh Jason Fulkerson and um principal Mike Ferris also um let's see um uh teacher Holly Stener and community members um Jabrell Bowens and um Courtney Cardau. Just quickly run through there. I think I've gotten everyone uh but I appreciate uh their their uh
025participation in the process. Also want to just uh give an invitation to anyone within the school community or the broader community who may have um insights that they'd like to share with us to reach out to any any of us on the board uh to uh you know share share that information or if they want to um speak uh to to the committee we can probably arrange that. So just a quick update there and uh and it is a school night as we would say in our home. Um so God bless all you teachers, parents and students who are uh going back to school tomorrow. Hope it's a great year for all of you and uh these are these are really important formative times and years. Uh just uh wish you the very best for
026a great school year. Thanks. too good. Anything >> Mr. Ferrano? >> Uh, I just want to share um that I had the privilege of attending the August graduation ceremony and I just want to appreciate the efforts by our students to um turn their tassels. Um, it was an energyfilled evening of pride and true joy and I was just delighted that we were able to celebrate with our students and their families in that way. Um, I also want to echo u an amazing and congratulate our superintendent Molen on um a wonderful opening day ceremony. Um, having attended several of my own over the years, uh, this was wonderful. I think the music was um really superior and again huge points of pride and the energy that we felt. It was electric when you walked in the
027um performing arts there is such a positive energy, our teachers, our staff um everyone is just so excited to be back. Um I understand when uh Mr. Long spoke about the work that the administrators do over the summer um incredible work. all the summer programs we ran and we're ready to go for it. Um, let's go. I think in the words of our superintendent this morning, um, and for the parents out there as you um, send your children off to school, I'm I'm giving a shout out to your parents of kindergarteners and grandparents of kindergarteners and your seniors as well. It's it's a huge milestone and it's not one that we want to overlook in in the lives of the people in our community. and we're ready for you and I will speak for myself
028as a member of the board, but I'm humbled by your um support and um we will do our very best for your children. So, thank you, >> Miss Lake. >> Um first, I'll give this message that came down the line. Please watch out for school buses, everyone, starting tomorrow. Um I reiterate about the music this morning. Um, I wish that marching band could be in this room, but I don't think it would fit them. Um, but the amazing thing to me is that these little tiny kids were there all the way up through seniors and they seemed the kids ran the show. talking about empowering. Um, this man came in kind of before them and was in the background. Um, and he established this beat and then once they picked it up, he was done.
029And they just and they were all I mean whatever differences they had, you would never know it because they were of one mind and one purpose and they were flawless and it was just amazing. And the um again this is the second time we've heard that group from Olympia and u we have to have you all hear it too because they are amazing. Um, now my my last message, um, Wednesday, August 20th was the last day of our three-day re board retreat, and it was a it was a great retreat, and I woke up in the morning, the same as I always do, listening to Give Him 15 um part of my um ritual, and that day there was a guest participant, and the title was when God was removed from our schools. And this
030person went on to talk about June the June 1962 Scotas decision to ban prayer from public schools and talked about the decline that's taken place since that time. Um reflected in test scores, absenteeism, increased use of drugs, depression, anxiety, behavior problems, and even suicide. There was a school in Arizona that was identified by a particular rating system as an F and deemed one of the worst schools in the nation. Teachers were discouraged and one even commented, "There is no hope here." The faith community decided to intervene with a covering of intense prayer for that school. members of the community committing, writing or interceding from home on a daily basis. Within one year, they received an A rating of excellence and a year later was evaluated by US News and World Report as A+ designating one
031of the best schools in the nation. I plan to invite the faith community in Greece to adopt one of our schools and commit to daily prayer remembering each school, each principal and all the staff and children there. Um, Arizona began a movement, the ones that had prayed for that school that's been gaining momentum, and you can access it for prayerforschools.com. I just registered. 4,651 schools are being prayed for by 2,17 people in 51 states this school year. Our own homes road was actually listed and has a prayer partner or benefactor. And now it didn't surprise me that in one of my that homes road is one of my liaison schools. So at least two of us will be praying for them. So I decide I decided I am going to commit to praying for every
032building um including district office and transportation every day until I can find people to adopt these other schools. So if anyone's interested um please let me know or you could register um for um on this website. Um by the way I have a plaque in my kitchen kitchen that says coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous. Um, I'd love to have you all join as well as all district personnel. And thank you all for listening and God bless all our children and everything goes that goes on this year. May it be a peaceful year with no no surprises. >> Thank you, Mr. Lake. Vice President Stencil. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. President. It's really hard to top everything that's been said because everyone's covered everything and that's kind of the the stinky part I guess
033about being toward the end. Um so I'll be I'll try to be brief. Um but I will cover a lot of what was already said uh in some regard. So welcome Bailey. We're excited to have you here. Um, I'm excited to learn from your diverse perspective and see what you bring to the board as well as a student and all of your life experiences that you've gone through. So, I'm happy to see you here. And, um, it's also it says a lot about your character that you want to be in this leadership role and that that tells me that, you know, regardless of how this year turns out or what not, you're going places because you have that energy, you have that drive. And I would also add courage and bravery to that because you
034have to be courageous to want to do that type of thing. I know when I ask my daughter if she wants to get involved in things like she's like no no no no don't even don't you know don't come near me with that. And I you know I I reflect because when I was a student years ago I was the same way. I wanted nothing to do with this and now here I am somehow as VP on the board >> which is just surreal but that's a different topic for another day. I did want to echo a lot what was said here um regarding the board goals in particular and actually I I'll I'll borrow something that Mary you had brought up too which is our retreat. I when we say we are Greece proud
035I truly believe that I buy into that. It's it's not because somebody's told me to. I don't get paid to be here. None of us do on the board. Um, you know, I think under your direction, Superintendent Smolen, and and our president, we have all come together and and truly done amazing things over the summer, and I'm really excited to see where this board and the cabinet are going to go in the future. It's It's really promising. I mean, you just have to take my word for it, but that's that's how I feel on that. Uh, and with the board goals, I'm really happy nobody disliked bullet point 4. That was mine. So, it stayed and I'm very happy. So, well, it's a win for me. Um, I also wanted to comment on August graduation,
036which was last week. I got the honor to be um, president prompor or whatnot, how, however you say that. Thank you so much, Sean. walking into the auditorium and Jeremy's like, "Oh, by the way, you have to speak tonight." I was like, "Okay." You know, I speak all the time, but uh the building didn't burn down. People didn't throw cabbage at me, so I guess I did. Well, um I was saddened to see it wasn't recorded, so I couldn't see like how I did because I always like to kind of go back on it, but that's neither here nor there. It was it was an enjoyable experience, and I was very honored and privileged to have that. So, thank you for that. And then um lastly but not least, I just want to wish all
037of our our district staff. Um it's not just teachers, but also I think about like a couple relatives of mine that work for the district who are in the operations end of it. They they rarely get talked about and they should be uh because you know it's like that old expression with the dishwasher. You need the dishes to be clean in order to run the restaurant. Well, it's the same kind of thing. you need people in operations to make the district run smoothly for the teachers to do their job. And so, um, I want to give them a shout out, our teachers, our administrators, everyone that pulls all of the glue together. Really, uh, it's a team effort. It's there's no one person doing everything. Um, so I wish you all the best of luck
038this year. A great start for tomorrow as our opening day. I'm excited about that. I'm nervous for my daughter. She's going into 11th grade. So that's She has an early bus this year, so I have to >> She's like, I got to get up 25 minutes. Yes. Yes, you do. Sorry. So, there's that. And um I also wish our students the best of luck as well because I think about my daughter going on the bus tomorrow. I think about you, you know, if you're if you're riding there or getting the bus or or whatnot. Every student deserves uh an opportunity to a good quality education. And I know based on the work we are doing that our students in Greece are getting that. It isn't 100% perfect, but we are ever going toward that direction
039and I'm really excited about it. So with that said, I'll leave it at that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Vice President Stencil. Um I have a whole bunch of things. I told Jeremy we'd be done by 7:30, so I got 23 minutes to talk. Um today's opening day ceremony I mean as so many of my colleagues said it was the students were amazing the superintendent and his messaging was amazing you know it was timely we got out of there some years it's super long and it was really nice to get in and get out and but the messaging was very relevant um I want to talk about it's been mentioned by a few of my colleagues I retreat two weeks ago now um it is one of the best retreats. I've been doing this, like
040Todd Butler mentioned earlier, 18 years. I've been going to board retreats for 18 years, and some of them were a glorious waste of time. Others have been okay, but the one we did two weeks ago was the best one I was ever at. I think the messaging when we worked with cabinet on certain things was really important things I had never seen before heard before in 18 years which looking back at it we should have known as board members I should have known as a board member and it just was never presented. So I think that was very relevant to the development and growth of this board. We do have a young board um and I think that was evident tonight when we set our goals. A couple people mentioned our goals. Our goals were
041a collaboration tonight. Several board members had ideas. We brought them forward and we ended up agreeing and it ended up being a great job on those. Um, lots of athletics this weekend. Football season starts. So, all of our high schools are getting kicking off the football. Soccer's going. Get out while the weather's nice before the fall rains come and it's cold and 30° and the pouring rain. Get out, watch a football game, a soccer game, any other events we have going. Um board member like mentioned the school buses. Um we have an epidemic in this county of people passing SC stop school buses. The county started a program a couple years ago through bus patrol where they issue tickets, put cameras on buses and it's ridiculous how many people are passing stop school buses with
042the stop arms out. There was a PR campaign today that the county put out and it's just a reminder if you see a stop school bus stop there. You know, you hear excuses all the time. Well, I didn't see the lights. I didn't see this. I didn't see that. You see a school bus, expect it's going to be stopping. Stop. Stop your car. You You have nowhere to be in that much of a hurry. I drove fire engines in this community and other communities for over 30 years now. Fire engines, even going to a fire or somebody not breathing, have to stop for a stop school bus. stop for the school bus. It's not that hard. You were taught that in your driver's eye class, but in this town, we issue a lot of tickets
043every month for stop school buses, which is ridiculous. Um, opening day tomorrow. This first time in 28 years in my house, nobody's going to school tomorrow. It's a um I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. So, it's a little nostalgic to me. The first day of school, Bailey, I congratulate you. Your first day of your senior year. That's awesome. Um, enjoy it. This is your last first day ever. So enjoy it tomorrow. And I wish the same for all our students and staff tomorrow. And oh, just one more thing I forgot. We had a meeting. Superintendent Smolen, board member Farmer, myself met with Josh Jensen to talk about some legislative issues. Um, we went through a lot. We talked a lot about the electric school buses, presented our thoughts on
044that and the state and federal funding. So we had a great meeting with him. Appreciate him giving us the time to talk with us. And then last but not least, this is Bill's opening week. Go Bills. >> Go Bills. >> Mr. Maloney. >> And this is another bill. >> I'd like to adjourn this meeting. I'd like a motion to adjourn this meeting. >> Second. Second by St. Vice President Stall. All those in favor? Thank you everyone. Have a good night.