001Okay, thank you everybody. Thank you. Um, me turn this back on. So, as you can see, um, I am filling in for Shawn tonight. Sean and Todd will both be here virtually. Are the screens on, Joe? Okay. So, we'll we should see them up there also, right? Only here. Okay. All right. Um and look at this. They um and Terry Malor, she is excused. She will not be here tonight. So, she is um excused from tonight's meeting. Um, so we need to make an approval of the agenda, but prior to that, we'd like to remove 2.02 and 5.04 for um a later time and add 8.01 01 Arcadia High School Eagle Scout Project to 1.06 after student leader comments. Can I get a um motion? Thank you, Mark. And thank you, Jordan. All in favor?
002Okay, perfect. Thank you, friends. Um, so as of right now, we would like to welcome the Athena Middle School students to the podium so we can hear all about you. Thank you. Hello, we're the crew of the Athena Middle School Trojan TV. The vision of Athena Middle School Trojan TV. In May 2024, the idea was presented to Mr. Focusen by current eighth grader myself, Jack Scotney. Our goal was to provide an exciting platform for students to present, build confidence, and strengthen communication skills. Trojan TV was also designed to celebrate student talent and highlight the amazing things happening at our school. Bringing the vision to life. On September 5th, 2024, our first episode aired with just a laptop and two people. Today, we use OBS software with a camera, microphone, green screen, and an introduction and
003credits created by seventh grader Declan Morris. We have trained student anchors conducting leader and me lessons every day. Currently, we have a team of over 10 people contributing to this success. When Mr. Wallenhorse became principal in February, he immediately supported and contributed to the expansion of Trojan TV. We are proud of what we have accomplished this this year. There are a lot of be there are a lot of behind the scenes backgrounds and scripts that happen. Here's a brief glimpse of our morning show. Good morning, Athena Middle School. Today is Monday, March 31st, a day a for students. Quote of the day. Earn trust. Earn trust. Earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest. Seth Goden. Just a reminder, after school activities, the students are not only allowed to stay after school if involved
004with an extra circular program. In addition, students in grade 6 to 8 are not allowed to attend a sporting event unless supervised by their parent guardian who needed to be in attendance the entire time. Mrs. Mullen. My mom has been working on a hygiene drive donation box for our students and is looking for more donations. She has been creating hygiene care bags and are requesting donations of deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, soap or body wash, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, and chapstick. Donations can be dropped off in Miss Welch's room. Now it's time. Today marks the first day of spring sports. Good luck to our Athena sports teams today. Sports offered to middle schooler baseball, softball, track and field, girls flag football, boys tennis, and lacrosse. Leader and me. Here is our leader and me focus for the
005week. Did you know that emotions, even the unpredictable ones, are totally normal? But when we feel overwhelmed, we can use self-regulation to help ourselves feel better and stay in control. Inside our brain, we have a really important part called the preffrontal cortex. It's like the wise leader of our brain. It helps us make good choices and problem, solve problems, and stay calm. But sometimes our brain goes into fight, fight or freeze mode when we feel scared, angry or stressed. That's when our emotions take over and it's harder for our pref prefrontal cortex to help. So, how do we get back to our focus state? We can use self-regulation strategies. Here are a few. Breathe. Take deep breaths. Pretend to smell a flower in, then blow out a candle. Use your senses. Count how many green
006things you can see. Take a break. Count to 10. Slowly move. Take a short walk. connect. Talk to a trusted adult or friend. These strategies can help calm our brain and bring us back to focus so we can think clearly again. Remember, your brain is powerful and you can train it to stay calm and focused even in tough moments. Thank you everyone. As always, please make We start each broadcast out with a positive quote of the day. For the month of April, we replaced our positive quote of the day with a joke of the day. Daily, we announced sports teams accomplishments and upcoming games to watch. We started leader and me in January 2025. Each week we focus on a new habit of the seven habits of highly effective people. Each week we have a
007routine of what we have each home room do. Mondays are the day we introduce the theme of the week. This week's This week's is think win-win habit 4. Tuesdays are tell me Tuesday where we on the morning show instruct the students to open their my learning and write in their journal connected to the leader and me lesson and prompt. Wednesday is I wonder Wednesday. On Wednesday, students have a class discussion on the topic of the week. Thursday is throwback Thursday. We give the students another day to finish their journal entry from Tuesday in my learning. Friday is a whole class discussion or bring home the topic to your family and make a family connection to what you've learned in leader and me lessons this week. In conclusion, we love doing the morning show at Athena
008Middle School and will continue to make changes. Tune in to our Trojan TV and please subscribe. We hope to bring this to the high school next year. Thank you. That was wonderful. Could you come up here so we can take a picture? Thank you. Thank you. Now, we'd like to um take a moment to recognize Josh would regarding his um Arcadia High School Eagle Scout project. Um I'd like to ask people to someone to please um bring this to the table, make a motion, Mary or that was Jordan and second Mark. Thank you. Um any questions? Anything you want to talk about regarding uh Josh's Eagle Scout project? I just think it's Mary, I think it's absolutely wonderful and thank you. And um maybe you could be encouraged to start a construction company and then
009do some of the work for the district because we always have a lot, don't we, Romeo? Yes, we do. Okay, Mark. Yeah, I'd like to say congratulations. It's uh great great work. I know that's uh a really challenging u task to achieve eagle. Uh so good job. Your perseverance has reached its moment. So could we take a vote please on um approving this? Uh a motion. Didn't we already do a motion? What? Oh, Sean has his hand up. Okay, thanks. Um, could we take a vote, please? All in favor? All in favor? So, we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Awesome. Thank you. Josh, would you come up so we can take a picture? Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Tracy, can you hear me? Oh, yes, Todd. Um, I uh just wanted
010to uh say congratulations to Josh on this project as well. I don't know if he is still raising money uh to complete the project, but if he is, I would hope that he could share his GoFundMe uh uh link with the board. And I'm sure many of us would be happy to make a contribution to support this work. I'm a proud former Boy Scout myself. I never made it to Eagle, but uh but I'm I'm really happy to um to have the chance to support Josh if he's still raising money. Absolutely. Thank you, Todd. Sean, did you you have something you wanted to say or are you good? Okay. Thank you. So, you're gonna just starting his fundraising. So, we will share the link with Great. Thank you. Great. Thank you all. All right. Thank
011you. Good night. Okay. So, um we're going to move into uh staffing. Um can somebody move staffing to the table, please? Bill. And second is Jordan. Thank you. Okay. Now any questions? Any questions about any of the staffing? Okay. So, seeing no questions, let's take a vote. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. All right. Thank you everybody. Okay. So, we move that. Okay. Now we are um on moving over to um the 2526 budget presentation. And uh Deputy Smallen, could you um Superintendent Superintendent? I just got demoted. I know. I don't even know where deputy came from because I've never used to say it before. So superintendent Mark looks like you're on buddy. Good evening. Um so again tonight Romeo and I um will walk you through the 202526 budget proposal. um will
012highlight how this plan supports student achievement, reflects our community's input, and balances students needs with fiscal responsibility. Um you will hear about our development process, key financial components, the two ballot propositions, and changes to the voting process. So, we hope that this gives both the board of education and the community a clear understanding of what we're proposing and why. Um, and as I mentioned last week, um, again, I just would like to recognize Romeo and the entire finance uh, department. Um, budgeting in a district our size is complex and I'm deeply grateful to Romeo, Janine, Megan, and the entire team for keeping students at the center of every financial decision. So, thank you both. So, thank you all. So, as shown here, we follow uh it's a five-step process that's been in place for over
013uh over a decade, and it really never ends. It's a continual process. Romeo and his team start uh this process by an analyzing our revenues, including state aid, reserve funds, fund balance, and the tax levy to determine if we're facing a surplus or or a gap. This process is ongoing and continuously refined as needs emerge. So, at the outset of this process, we identify key priorities or our key priorities. In this year, we focused on maintaining and enhancing current programs to address to address our achievement gaps as well as promote acceleration and enrichment. Fostering school safety, wellness, and social emotional learning, expanding learning and extracurricular opportunities, and empowering our staff through professional learning communities. These priorities were shaped by student, staff, and family feedback and aim to create a safe, engaging safe and engaging schools
014that our students deserve. As I mentioned before, I am now three months into this role and deep into um an entry process that's focused on listening, learning, and leading. The cabinet and I have engaged with hundreds of stakeholders and used their input combined with student data to shape the proposal you'll see here tonight. From thousands of voices across the Gree Central School District, including students, staff, families, and community members. Six clear themes emerged during this process. Students needs have changed. Student behaviors affect learning. Staffing shortages impact everyone. Prioritizing rigor and achievement. Ensuring students are ready for life after graduation and that families want to be engaged with their part with be engaged as partners. So today we serve fewer students than we have throughout the years. But their needs are far greater. Since 202021, we've
015seen increas increases in English lang language learners, increased students uh with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, and those qualifying for free and reduced meals. These demographic shifts directly influence our resource planning. Our budget proposal aligns with our reach 2027 strategic plan and its commitments of ignite learning, cultivate trust, and expand opportunity. This budget reflects how these principles come to life in classrooms and school communities across Greece. For commitment one, we are investing $135.7 million to improve the academic outcomes and the following selected initiatives and priorities. Curriculum implementation and professional learning for educators. Targeted supports to close gaps in ELA and math, including reallocation of districttosis as school-based interventions interventionists. expansion of early childhood programs, STEM specials and elementary schools, and increased UBK capacity, and more college credit courses and CTE pathways. Strong mental health support via
016counselors, social workers, and behavior interventions, plus partnerships like Genese Mental Health and Primary Project. Special education continues to be a growing area of need in Greece. We now are at 78 self-contained classrooms districtwide. And I believe that that number has actually gone up to close to 81 since the last time I've done this presentation. 162 students requiring 1:1 aids. A 42% increase in occupational physical therapy and speech needs since 201920. A 25% increase in students requiring behavioral supports on IEPs. And with all of that, fewer out of district placements and increasing demand for indist. Cultivating trust. We're investing 9.3 million to strengthen relationships and learning in in the learning environment and the following um initiatives and priorities. safety enhancements like weapons detection systems and cyber security upgrades, restorative programs and accountability structures like pack and
017social learning specialists. Shared decision-making teams with students, parents, and community members, recruitment and retention strategies, including stipens to compensate teachers that host student teachers and build strong relationships with new and upcoming teachers. and additionally supporting new pilot programs at Olympian Arcadia with an increased school allocations. This budget directly addresses feedback throughout my entry process, perception surveys, and from the voices of our stakeholders. We've built in resources to meet concerns around student behavior, special education, academ academic achievement, and life skills instruction. For goal three, we're investing one 11.6 6 million in expanding community school strategy with two new sites, more academic and behavioral support programs, extracurricular opportunities in the expan in the expansion of a variety of afterchool clubs, work-based learning experiences and tools like Maya learning and integrated technology instruction that empower students to think
018critically, communicate effectively and use dig digital tools responsibly. This snapshot demonstrates the number of students that have engaged in the new opportunities offered to our students beyond the school day. Last year we had 3,500 students register um to receive free district-p provided summer programs. More than 700 students participated in the RBTL's art partnership program and we have had students from across the district organize and lead dozens of school-based and community events including the first Greece to change summit for secondary students and the leadership day for elementary students. This point I'm going to ask Romeo to come up and share the financial overview. Good evening everyone. Um before we begin um here tonight again uh just to let you know um what the budget looks like. Uh we won't spend a lot of time on the
019slides. The numbers have not changed since the last couple times we have uh viewed this as of today. We still do not have a state approved budget. Um that's still pending. So our numbers have remained the same for the last two board meetings uh that we've come here. Couple items just to note up front. Uh we have been looking at some of the anticipated changes that we think we may see on our uh budget runs. One is a uh foundation aid inc uh adjustment for about 10 kids in enrollment. So we may see a slight decrease due due to that for foundation aid. We're understanding that the governor is using a slightly lower CPI, consumer price index in the formula, which may result in a little bit less uh funding on the foundation aid as
020well. We're expecting that to be somewhere between 150 or $200,000 less than where we are currently. Um in addition to that though, to offset that, our Bosey's aid is likely to be up. We spent a lot more money in Boseies at the end of last year, which is generating aid for next year that wasn't picked up in the governor's run. That's going to be somewhere probably between $800 and $900,000. So, our anticipation is that the budget should the budget state aid should go up500 or $600,000 in that range when we do get the um the final numbers for that. In the meantime, um if it doesn't go that way, then we're good at where we are. If it and one way or another, we will absorb into the budget whatever comes out of the legislative
021budget. We're prepared to do that. Looking at the revenues, um our budget is going uh from 37.8 million to 318.5, an increase of $10.7 million or just under three and a half%. CPI for this year was around three three and 1.1%. So, um we're we're glad to be within that range. The state aid number again has been locked in for a little bit here since there is no state approved budget. The tax levy at $128 million. That is 2.6 2.06% increase. That is the maximum tax levy we can go to and obtain 50% plus one vote to approve the budget. Anything above that would require a supermajority or 60% resident vote to approve. And then the other uh item I just wanted to touch on was the $2 million in appropriated fund balance. In the
022current year, 2425, we appropriated $2 million for five playgrounds and a couple pavilions that will be built this summer. That money um is going back into the fund balance. We're not doing that again for the 2526 uh budget. That's why you see a decrease of $2 million there. On the expense side, uh we look at this in a couple of ways. One is by function. Um again, uh just to point a couple observations, instruction and pupil transportation are um make up almost 60% of our budget, which it should. And um again, without going into the details, up about 10.7 10.8 $.8 million, you're just under three and a half%. When we look at um the budget by object code, as we referred to it, salaries, equipment, contract, services, you'll see that um salaries are up
0235.8 million. That's roughly uh 4% um which it goes along with the contracts that we have for all our bargaining units. In summary, the operating budget is proposed at 318,529,556. That's up 10.7 million or just under three and a half% 3.49%. The estimated tax levy is $128,72,028. That's up 2,590,581 or just over 2%. This year there's uh as in many years or previous years a proposition for a bus replacement. We are looking to replace 35 buses um is broken down as you can see on the screen. Those will be uh gas and diesel buses. We have not moved on um the electric bus endeavor at this point yet. The estimated cost, aggregate cost will be about $5.6 million. We're looking to use $1.89 million from the bus reserve. Uh we'll finance these buses over five
024years starting in 2526. And as a result of the state aid and the amount we're pulling out of the reserve, there's no additional cost to the levy for residents to have to pay. A new proposition for this year is proposition two to establish a capital reserve fund. A capital reserve fund, this is a building fund. It's used, we use it to pay for our capital projects which we have uh every year. Um we're proposing to create a capital reserve fund for $50 million uh plus accumulated interest. uh we're proposing that we are able to deposit funds into that account over a 15-year period and then anytime we use those monies, we would come back to the board and to the residents for a vote in order to utilize the funds for a capital project. Uh
025one of the things I did want to mention here is there's still a lot of work to be done in the buildings that we couldn't accommodate in the level up project. We spent a lot of time doing walkthroughs and soliciting input from administrators in the buildings and folks in the building that uh created or uh came up with ideas that need to be done in the buildings. And we're hoping that by funding this in the short term, medium-term, uh we can accumulate enough funds to start a new project within the next two or three years uh to get the district and the buildings in the shape that we need it for our staff and for our students. Back to Jeremy. So, where to vote? Um, Greece has moved to one centralized voting location, which is
026here at the transportation and support service facility. Um, our polls open um at 6 a.m., close at 900 p.m. And to be eligible, uh, voters must be registered with the Monroe County Board of Elections. In addition to that, um I made a joke last week of all things that we have new voting machines. Um I did have a chance to see them and I was less nervous seeing um the new machines. Um so New York State purchased a new secure electronic voting system. They are touchscreens um and they'll be used by Greece voters for the first time this May um May 20th for a budget vote. So instead of filling out uh filling in bubbles, um you select and review your choices directly on the machine before casting your vote. So we do plan to
027have some videos here to allow people some time to look through those as they to be become familiar with them before they go into vote. In addition, this year we'll have an increased number of um of vote inspectors here that will be able to assist people through that process now that we'll have close to 20 machines here. So, we feel that we'll we'll have enough support to help people through that new process. Um early voting by mail, all registered voters are eligible to vote uh by mail. Those who wish to vote by mail must complete an application. Those applications are now available on the district website. So, you could go there, download that, fill that out, mail those in, and then um you'd be um and then once the application is verified, the voter will
028be mailed an official ballot it or you can pick one up at um in person at district office. So, that again, that um application is now online and available. And so, what's next? So, um, tonight the board will, uh, vote on the proposed budget. Um, on April 25th, there will be a budget book available to the public. On April 28th here at the transportation center will be board candidates night at 6 PM in this room. Um, if you can't make that event, it is live stream. So, log on like you're some of you are doing now and you'll be able to watch uh the board candidates night. We have three uh three candidates or three vacancies this year. May 6th is the official budget public hearing and then we have two public information sessions um
029for people to come and get some more information, ask questions. First one's May 14th at 4:00 here in this room and then the following day at 6:00. We're trying to accommodate people's work schedules the best as we can by having one a little bit earlier in the in the after later in the afternoon and then into the evening. Thank you, Superintendent Smalline. Um, so next we are going to be hearing about our science core instructional materials presentation. This is written information only. Yes. And I would like to ask uh Miss Kelly Flaggler and Todd Smith to come up, please. All right, here we go. Uh good evening everyone. We have been looking forward to this opportunity uh for some time now to share with you the incredibly thorough process um and journey of how instructional
030materials are adopted for our children here in Greece. I've had the pleasure over the past few months of taking a deep dive into the recommendation process for core materials. um always with the understanding of our current sociopolitical context, specifically how our community is increasingly interested in understanding how instructional materials are selected. As a result, it is our team's intention this evening to ensure that we are presenting to you a greater level of detail in comparison to what we might typically reserve for uh vertical teams and shared decision-making committees because our hope is that you receive both the quantity and the quality of information needed in order to proceed with a high degree of confidence. Oh, you got me, Joe. Well, I'm just gonna keep going. Joe will figure it out. He always does. Uh, so
031in a moment, thank we go. Look at that. Uh, in a moment, I'll actually heed my husband's advice and get to the point here and turn it over to Todd so that he can continue um, examining this. But first, I'd want to open um to give you just a little scope of what you can expect during this presentation as we take you through a journey from 2013 leading up to tonight that begins with uh national standards, then the New York State's adoption of the next generation science standards, Greece policy, and then ultimately classroom instruction. You're going to hear a little bit about board policy 8340, the selection of core instructional materials in action. And you might recall as a board in 2021, uh, policy 8340 had undergone substantial revisions and that was for two reasons.
032One was for coherence. So there were three policies around uh the selection of instructional materials. uh one was for classrooms, one was for library materials and then digital resources and in the spirit of coherence we shifted to the current policy as it stands. The second uh reason for that substantial revision was to respond to the community's interest in ensuring a robust process for not only selection but also for reconsideration. Since 2021, uh, Boseies has vetted and revetted as early as, uh, over the past few months. It's been reviewed by attorneys and then our internal team, um, has convened to reassess the efficacy in light of, um, selection scenarios, text selection scenarios that have unfolded locally. Ultimately, the strength of the policy that our board has adopted is withstanding the proverbial test of time. So Todd's
033going to be taking you through what the policy actually looks like in action over many years in including the review cycle and teams of teachers vetting evidence-based instructional practices. Then we'll close by um extending an invitation to the board to review the materials at district office uh prior to the May 27th meeting. We'll we will be formally asking for your adoption. So without for uh any further ado, our executive director, Todd Smith. Thank you, Kelly. Um I'm going to try to be brief, but it won't be um no. So at the heart of that policy is really um the Greece program review cycle. So that encompasses not only um the instructional material selection process but a comprehensive examination of our curriculum, our instruction, our professional learning, what's happening in our classrooms across the district, across
034all content areas. So this cycle was developed in 20 2017. Um and I'm going to go just a little bit into each of the components. So in that evaluation phase, I really think about a deep dive of our current state. Um, we get teams of teachers together to really look at how are our students doing. We look at state data, we look at classroom data, screening data. We survey teachers. We do focus groups with teachers and students. Um, we really get out to see how are things going in our classrooms, how are kids learning, how are teachers implementing um to find out that current state. And then from that they make some research recommendations um some areas where we might need some improvement. And then we go and we spend a good amount of time
035researching evidence-based best practices. We go to conferences to learn. We go to other districts. We read books and journal articles to really find what is the research showing us for the best practices in our content area right now for moving forward. And from that comes recommendations that might include piloting new resources, engaging in professional learning, um training, writing new assessments or curriculum. So there could be a comprehensive review of uh recommendations. Um and as part of that often is a resource recommendation that may come to the board um as we are today with the science resource um of new visions. Um but there's lots of other recommendations that come out of that in terms of professional learning and curriculum and assessments. Then we spend a year developing and training our teachers. Um, so we have
036comprehensive PD in our district through conference days, release days, afterchool training, and then a ton of curriculum and assessment writing that often happens over the summers um, with teams of teachers. And then we go into a cycle of implementation. But even in those implementation years, we're constantly looking at data, getting feedback um, and improving along the way. At the heart of all this work though is shared decision-making. Um, so there's three key teams in our Greece program review cycle. Um, and the main core component is right there in the middle. It's those vertical teams. And those vertical teams are really teams of teachers. It might be a math vertical team or art vertical team led by our curriculum leaders, many of whom are here tonight um, to support the budget. Um, and those teams dig
037in and do the work I just shared from the previous slide. Okay? They do all that research um, and make those recommendations and engage in training. But occasionally they have to break off ad hoc groups. So if we have our larger math team, they might need they might recommend we need to do third grade training or curriculum work. And so that ad hoc team will get off and over the summer they will do some curriculum work or assessment writing. And then at the top you see that district curriculum council. So the district curriculum council meets a few times a year and that consists of board members, parents, teachers, and administrators from across the district. and our curriculum leaders will present to the district curriculum council about the work they're doing and the progress that we're
038making and get feedback from that district curriculum council and that helps them make connections um to different programs across the districts and different perspectives. So that's a little bit of what Greece does, right? That's our cycle that we're trying to engage in on a regular basis. But then you also have what the state tells us we have to do, right? So periodically there's also new standards or new assessments um or new guidance from the state. So for science, the last time we had new science standards was actually 1996 as you can see at the beginning of this chart. Um and then as Kelly referred to in 2013, New York State was part of a consortium of states that helped develop the nextgen science standards. But New York State on its own also had its own
039science team and they looked at those standards and they made some revisions and edits. And in 2016, they adopted the New York State science standards. They're largely based upon the NextGen um standards with some tweaks to make them for New York State based upon feedback um from teachers and the population here. And then New York State developed a five six-year rollout plan of that, right, for training and awareness um and then gradual grade bygrade level implementation. Um but that was also delayed by COVID. So you see a big gap there. 2016 they were adopted. Just this last spring in 2024 were our first um new assessments at fifth and eighth grade aligned to the new standards. And then we haven't even gotten to the new regent exams yet, right? That's going to be happening over
040the next few years for that implementation. So a large time for that implementation of the new standards. So what is at the heart of the new standards? So at the heart of the new standards is this idea of three-dimensional learning. So there's three key aspects I'm going to spend just a minute here talking about. There is the disciplinary core ideas. That's the main content that normally we think about like um in biology learning about cells or in chemistry learning about molecules, right? Or in earth science learning about rocks and weather. Um but then there's the science and engineering practices and that's how you apply. So you think about those problem solving and critical think thinking ideas of how are we applying the science that we've learned? And then there's the crosscutting concepts. what are those
041connections to all of the content areas um across the board and those together create the experience that we are providing for our students, right? Making sure they're learning the content and engaging in those crosscurricular and applying those science to make them come to life for the students as they engage in that deep learning. So what is the Greece timeline? Right? So the state had their timeline. What did that actually look like in Greece? So the state adopted the standards in 2016. In 2017, we formed our first science vertical team um based upon our new program review cycle. Um and they developed a five-year plan for rolling out and adopting the standards here in Greece. So, we started grade level trainings um and those went on year after year. Um and then we started pilots at
042the K8 level and we continue to grow and build those pilots in 2019 as we continued to train our teachers across the board. Then you can see in 2020 at the K5 level they adopted the BOSIES for science kits which were really some of the first things that were aligned to the new standards. Um and then in 2021 the state adjusted their timeline because of COVID and so they pushed it back even further but yet we continued our work of piloting resources and training with our teachers. Um and then in 2021 2022 we at the 68 level adopted um discovery ed and that actually came to the board here for approval in 2021 I believe it was. Um so thank you for that. So I left high school off of that because high school had
043a little bit different timeline, right? So the shift in regent exams still has not happened for high school. Um that's coming up over these next few years. So high school kind of had their own timeline as you can see here in 2017 to 2020 they did participate in that first vertical team but it was really awareness building and some initial training and planning. Um and as you see along the way the science team um did present to the district curriculum council multiple times. You can see the first one there in May of 2019. Um and then in 2020 to 2022 the state they shifted that timeline but Greece kept moving forward. We did adopt at K8 um the new standards and started instructing them with our new resources um and the Greece developed curriculum along
044this time. We also had a shift in science leadership. So there was quite a few changes in those COVID years. Adele Mater was our science director around that initial implementation and when she left um Iowa's math director and they allowed me to help out with science as well. And then in 2022 2023, so two years ago, um we were coming out of COVID, right? K8's already adopted. So we decided to form a new high school vertical team. So we got teams of teachers from across the district to get together to really focus on high school. Um we surveyed teachers and we really did deep dives into the standards, instructional shifts. We went to conferences and really did a lot of professional learning around what were those evidence-based practices that were going to allow us to
045shift our instruction for these new standards and move us forward. Um so then last year we continued some of that training through release days and after school and our conference days and the team anchored into the equip rubric which is a nationally recognized rubric um for evaluating resources and after they dug into that they started looking at all the resources out there and there's lots of resources right every day I'm getting a new textbook in my office of hey buy this and use this and so the team of teachers really dug into all those um and evaluated them based upon the training that they had and that equip rubric that they were they were anchored into and they chose New Visions as their pilot program. Then this last summer um Audra took over as our
046new science director um and math director as well. Um and she supported the team last summer in training and curriculum work for the pilot. So they were prepared this last fall to really kick off um a new pilot for New Visions. The team also decided to pilot Cogniti as well this winter. Um and after a deep pilot phase and a lot of collaboration amongst the teachers, they got together this March. Um they dug into the rubric and evaluated all the resources they had looked at and the the team of teachers selected new visions as their um core resource moving forward. So what was some of the feedback from teachers for why they selected New Visions? Uh one, it's 100% aligned to New York State. So New Visions was written for New York State. Most of
047the programs that we get are written for the nation as a whole. This was written for New York. And because of that, you can see there's connections to New York State. So when they're talking about the weather or they're talking about like ice storms, they refer to the ice storm that happened in New York State. Um and so there's some of those strong connections for our kids. It's really anchored into that 5e model of science instruction, which is an evidence-based um practice for science instruction that's been recognized for years. Um, it's got thorough teacher guides to support our teachers to make implementation a little bit easier. The teachers really like the labs and investigations and are excited about some new ideas to bring to their classrooms for engaging kids in those. And the other nice
048thing is this is open source and it's free. So, this does not cost anything for the district other than printing things off. Um, and so that also makes it adaptable, which is which is nice. So, we can adjust to our kids each year as we look at data. we're going to continue to improve it and that flexibility is there because of that open-source material. So, what are some of our next steps? So, the vertical team and the teams of teachers in biology and earth science um are going to continue training this summer um and throughout next year to get ready for implementation because the new regions exams are going to be next June for us, right? So, a little more than a year away. This summer that team of teachers for earth science and biology
049will develop the grease curriculum documents. So teams from all the buildings will come together and work to develop assessments and curriculum guidance and hopefully incorporate this new resource um into those curriculum guidance. Um and then next year Audra has planned planned a series of trainings to bring them together across the district to make sure we're collaborating and implementing well. And then you have chemistry and physics that's actually a year delay. Okay. um from the state. The regent exams, we're going to do them two years from now. Um and then finally, the cycle starts all over again. So K5, we've been implementing for about five or six years now. So we're going to start the review process of that. We're going to look at how are the how is the resource going? What are the best
050instructional practices? We're going to look for overlap with our core. How can we be more efficient with our time and resources at the K5 level? And so it will begin again. I'm going to pass it back to Kelly now for some next steps as a district. Thank you, Todd. So, our hope tonight was to be able to shed some light onto the robust process that the district engages in over the course of many, many years that's anchored into the board's policy. Um, in terms of next steps, we want to make sure that each of you has an opportunity to take a look at the instructional resources um at district office. and we wanted to provide you ample time to be able to do that. Um so on May 27th uh we'll be asking for you
051to formally adopt our recommendation of new visions for the cur uh for the instructional materials. Um, prior to that, we'll have a series of office hours where Todd, Audra, and I will be available to if you'd like to come and collaborate and meet with us at district office or you can reach out and schedule a time independently that works for you, uh, at your convenience to to see the materials. Um, so with that, uh, we want to turn it over and see if anybody has any questions. Any questions? Mark, you want to kick it off? Thank you for the presentation. Um I have a question that relates to the 5e model. Uh doing a little bit of reading uh aside here. Um I have a definition of that that describes it uh as a planning
052tool for inquiry teaching in science. And uh I know we've made this shift in um in literacy towards the science of learning. Um science, excuse me, the science of reading, the science of learning more generally. Uh has a clear focus on direct instruction, explicit instruction. So I'm wondering a couple of things. One, to what extent does the state direct us into an inquirybased strategy? Uh, or do we have our own latitude to to select between one or the other or a mix, however that might be? And uh and how do you um how how do you characterize this? How do you see this as fitting into the science of learning uh generally? Sure. I I I guess I'll I'll start and toss it off to Todd who does have a a pretty strong and thorough
053understanding of the 5e model. Um to to start with your question, it sounds like you're curious about the degree to which New York State dictates the instructional resources in addition to the pedagogical approaches that we take for instruction in the classroom. There are certainly standards that we are expected to make sure that we are addressing thoroughly. Um, within that, we want to make sure that teachers have some autonomy in ensuring that they understand where students are and that they understand the standards and are crafting instruction using the instructional materials that the board is recommending or that you're adopting for the core resource. Um, it it sounds like you're curious as well about inquiry based instruction. um it it would be difficult to find any science class that has only direct instructional um practices without any
054inquiry. So we do want students to engage in that curiosity cycle of of examining phenomena for example in order to try to ascertain the nature of how things occur. So, um I I think it s it we're not controlled by the New York State Department of Education in terms of the specific strategies and approaches that we um that we implement in the classroom. We certainly need to understand the best ways to meet our student needs. Um and we believe that the new visions resource provides a framework that is aligned with the New York State um adoption of the standards in addition to the vetting process that it's gone through from the Greece Central School District teachers who've who've piloted it who've um spent you know many many years in terms of understanding Greece kids and
055instruction in this in this district and have gone through a process to um to to examine the the efficacy of the curricular materials that we're we're looking and exploring. Um, and this is what they're recommending and and we want to support them with that. I don't know, Todd, if you wanted to add anything to it. I think you hit it pretty good, but I'll just add one thing. Um, certainly as they're learning the content in science, there's explicit direct instruction um to support students in that. But at the heart of like a science lab, an investigation and phenomena, we want students asking questions. Um, which leads to some of the inquiry that's going to happen as well. So, it's not one or the other. It's both need to happen to have a robust science program.
056Um, students need directed instruction to learn some content, but they also need to be asking questions and inquiring and those types of things. So, so, so there is the backing, the support of the explicit instruction and the access to the the labs, etc. It is a mix is what you're saying. It is it's a balance of both things need to happen. Okay. Yeah. I'll also add one of the things from this slide that was really appealing to our teachers. Um, so it's an open-source and adaptable resource, which means um they're going to have the ability to be able to download the materials and edit them to make sure that they're meeting student needs. Uh, so I I think that provides the opportunity to um to offer more explicit instruction when there's a need that would
057indicate that our students are are needing it. Thank you. Any other questions? Mary, I've been looking at this book that we received last um at the last meeting and um some of the findings were a little upsetting. We understand that what our um scores have been compared to other um school districts in the state or in the country. But when we look at internationally um things get much worse and with the industrialized countries I mean we have been losing ground every year. Um, and we have the smallest percentage of students scoring at the highest proficiency in math. And more than a third of American high school graduates who enter college are required to take remedial courses at the cost of over $2 billion an annually. And nearly four out of every five of those students
058had a high school grade point average of 30 or higher. um and and they talk about the kind of depth that um students need to understand especially mathematics and science um certainly literacy um and they described in one of the reform um efforts looking at the curriculums they described our our curriculum as being a mile wide and an inch deep um and I guess that's my concern and when we looked school improvement plans last um last year. A lot of them were based on this model of discover, discuss, and connect. And and granted, um, science of course is, um, a study and analyzing phenomenon, but it just seems like it has to, um, really incorporate that explicit teaching and and that skill development so that they have the knowledge to make, um, sound decisions. Um,
059um, I don't hear a question, but did did I cut you off? Go ahead. No, that was just my concern and I'm anxious to look at the materials too that Yes. Um, so I share with you an interest and I think we all share with you an interest in in desiring depth of understanding and the text that um that Mary's referring to is the Marzano and Deor leaders of learning um which is anchored into the professional learning community cycle. So, um, Todd in his presentation spoke at length to the PLC process and how our teams of teachers are collaborating to analyze student achievement data. Um, and we're continuously refining that process through our school improvement work. Um and the hope is that through the implementation of the next generation science standards at the high school
060level and the adoption of the new vision's curriculum that we would be able to go deeper in understanding through the oftentimes the hook the inquirybased hooked is through examining phenomena. But that is not the only way in which students are engaging with the content. They do have to have explicit instruction at times. And we believe that this material, these instructional materials will allow teachers the flexibility with also pure alignment to the next generation standards. And we will continuously um uh participate in the professional learning community cycle in order to examine and study the impact that it's having that our instructional resources and that our pedigogy is having on student achievement. And when we're noticing um areas of need, we're going to continuously refine and examine. Thank you. Yep. Hey, Mary. So, um Jeremy just said
061something that I thought might might make some sense in terms of further questions regarding being able to look at the materials. Mary, I see you nodding your head. And then what? March May 27th I think you said we could then again ask more detailed and informed questions. Thank you, Kelly. So, Megan, you have something you wanted to say? Just a quick comment. I I wanted to thank you, Kelly, and actually, Superintendent Smolen, uh we were talking about this back after executive session, just kind of, you know, clearing and talking about things, which we should be. Um to understand the depth, usually as a parent or as a board member, we have a very new board. There are five of us. and to kind of get the um instruction that we kind of need to figure
062out things. If you were to look on the New York State Science Standards, we were talking about this. As a parent, you probably wouldn't understand what's going on. It's it's kind of, I would say, in brow. Um, and to have that understanding that you guys took the time to do that, which we've been asking for, that's greatly appreciated and giving us the time because we we don't and I think we have um as a society, we haven't gone through education and we we have a lapse like we were talking about trying to get that triangle back or the parents back in partnering with them. The partners in progress that we were at Odyssey the other uh weeks ago. Um, it was very very interesting to hear the even the people that are in our schools,
063our staff members to say that unless you're in this, you really just don't know. It's different when you're on the board. You have a different kind of scenario and you're not a teacher, you have teacher things and when you're not in it. So, I appreciate it. It's it's a lot to undertake um and to in really just to understand. So, thank you for giving us the time on this. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Megan. Anybody else? Mark? Yeah. So, I I do appreciate all all of the uh asurances and the commitment to delivering both the explicit instruction and the opportunities for exploration. Uh I want to just comment and a request. Um there was a uh a research study uh the efficacy of inquiry based instruction in science. was specifically geared towards science.
064Uh this was a 2019 study that focused on six OECD uh countries that participated in the PISA 2015. That's for people out there listening uh the program for international student assessment. Um and the conclusion of the study was the analysis shows that students who reported experiencing high frequencies of inquiry strategies in their classroom consistently evidenced lower levels of scientific literacy. It was interesting. The study said there was higher engagement but lower literacy of science uh lower science literacy. So they were more interested in it but achieved less. Uh so if I could just interrupt Mark for a second, this is something that we should discuss at a later date in terms of being able to get more information after we look that look at that. So if we could put that off until the next
065few weeks. I have a request that's going to be timely I think with regard to that since we're going to be voting on May 27th. 27th. Yeah. So the the I give you that as some for me anyway background knowledge and uh I'd like to know if you can share with us the evidence that supports u this this kind of approach maybe you have something from what works clearing house or other resources that you've used to analyze this this proposed curriculum. Uh so while we have an opportunity to investigate and review, come in and see the uh um the materials, uh that would be helpful. That's great. Thank you, Mark. And I think that you've heard what he's requesting and it looks like we have about three weeks to really dig into this. Thank you.
066Thank you very much, um Todd and Calie. Thank you. All right. Okay. So, um we will move on now to um and this will be a roll call call vote. Um can we get a motion to adopt the 2025 budget? Jordan, thank you Jordan and Mark. Thank you. Um any questions? Zelia, is that your hand raised? No, no questions, Mark. Yeah, Scott, let's go for it. Yeah, I would just like to say thank you to all who have put together the budget. I know it's it's uh a big commitment to uh I think it was $136 million uh in instructional spending. I mentioned that prior uh previously. that it's a big number and and a big commitment for our community to uh to our students and our staff and I think that it's really important.
067Um I thank you for all the work that went into it and uh I'm looking forward to casting a yes vote. So thanks. Thank you, Mark. Anybody else? Anything else? Okay, so it looks like we're ready to vote. It's a roll call vote. Let's start with um Bill and my vote is yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Todd? Yes. And Sean? I'm Yes. All right. Thank you everybody. Congratulations. I know that it's tricky when we don't have final numbers. Okay. Great. That's a good thing. Um, so now now we're looking at um 5.02 the property tax report card adoption. Can I have someone move that to the table please? Bill and thank you Jordan for seconding. Um, any questions? Okay. Um if if you are a yes, please vote and raise your hands. All right.
068One, two, three. Oh, four, five, six, seven, eight. So that's a eight. Uh yes. Yay. Okay. Next one is the uh 503 extra classroom activity funds quarterly report. Could I get someone move that to the table, please? bill and second Jordan and could we any questions? Okay, let's do a vote. One, two, I. Four, five, six, seven, eight. Again, eight in in um favor. Um the next piece is the 505 tax cert am I do? Yeah. Tax cert tertiary settlement refund. Um, could we bring that to the table, please? Megan and Jordan, thank you for seconding it. And um, okay, she's next, right? Or do we bring her up now? Now. Okay. Or is it down here? Yes. Okay. So, Tammy will be next. Can we get a vote on this? I eight. I practiced
069that word. Okay. And next 5.06, Tammy Flores. She is um so willing to give her time to our audit committee and she's going to come up and talk with us a little bit about the uh 506 acceptance of the 2425 internal audit report resolution. Thank you. Good evening. Thanks for having me today. The Greece central audit committee met on Monday, April 21st, and we're joined by Tom Zuber representing our external auditor, Mangle Mezer Bar and Company, and Tim Doyle from our internal auditing firm, Bonado and Company. Tom discussed the approach to be used for our upcoming annual external audit, which includes reviewing several key areas, including management responsibilities, key controls, compliance, responsibilities regarding fraud risk, and fund balance and reserves. He included details on a few um Gatsby updates coming in June of 2025 and
07026 that will require additional consideration for the upcoming audit. Tim went over their internal audit of the New York State Foundation aid where they verify calculations used against what is on the state site along with doing peer comparisons with several other comparable districts to ensure Greece is reporting all eligible items for state aid reimbursement. No material exceptions were noted with this audit. Only a few minor input miscalculations were identified which have been corrected and could result in additional state aid within the fiscal year to ensure the district submits all aidable items. Also reviewed was the New York State Asbestous Hazard Emergency Response Act or AHA audit and inspection conducted in November of 2024. Training requirements for a small group of seasonal staff was the only item noted which was self-identified by the district before the
071audit began. Additionally, we reviewed the corrective action plan for the recent New York State Controllers audit regarding the procurement of professional services. Again, no material exceptions were noted, but a few observations were made within this audit, including recommendations of enhanced training procedures, standardization of documenting the rationale behind certain RFPs or utilization of piggybacking on some contracts, and conducting costbenefit analysis for our for RFPs. The district is committed to implementing corrective measures to enhance compliance, transparency, and fiscal responsibility related to this process and has added these items to the corrective action plan, which was is reviewed at each audit meeting. The updates are already in process and including updating procurement policies, ensuring competition, training, and quarterly compliance reviews. The audit committee greatly appreciates the ongoing commitment, extensive time, and strong expertise of the staff at Grace
072Central in relation to the numerous laws and regulations school districts are required to abide by. It is our recommendation to approve and accept the 202425 internal audit report on New York State Foundation Aid and the district responses to the OSC audit report 2024M-129 on the procurement of professional services. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Flores. It's good to see you. Um could we have somebody move this to the uh Mark? Thank you. And Bill, thank you for second your second. Um let's uh our questions are we good to vote? Okay, let's take a vote. I Okay, again we have an eight vote. Thank you very much everybody. Um so now we have the corrective action plan. Does Tammy speak to that too? Okay. So 507 acceptance of the 2425 cor corrective action plan OSC audit. And
073could I get somebody to move that to the table please? Bill. Thank you. And Jordan appreciate you. Um let's take a vote. Hi. And again we have another Mary. So you I missed you. Okay great. Thank you. Um and I I gotta remember you guys. So Sean and Todd, if you have a question, say it out loud so I can because I this is like kind of like when I had to teach to the kids at home and to teach in the classroom. You got to remember where to look. Uh 5.08, the quarterly reporting of professional service contracts greater than $50,000. Somebody bring this to the table, please. Sean, I mean um Bill and Mary. Thank you. Sec for the second. Uh a vote. So we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
074Thank you everybody. So this next um business information only 6.01 budget and revenue status report. Any questions? Okay, thank you. And um 602 quarterly reporting of service contracts greater than 20,000 but less than $50,000. Any questions regarding that? All right, good. Um, the consent agenda. Would somebody be willing to bring the consent agenda to the table, please? Uh, Mr. Stenzo and Miss Farah. Thank you. Any questions? Okay, no questions. So, um, let's take a vote. I wanted to, um, thank some people for their Thank you for their donations to the, um, to the school district. Um, Arcadia High, uh, a bunch of people, uh, the pay the production cost for the musicals, Into the Woods, uh, wrestling banners, soccer basketball banners. This came from the extra classroom donor fund. Um, Athena High School, directions for
075the gala, card readers for the school musicals, boys basketball championship posters, which is always a pretty cool thing for the kids, flag football banners, and then Odyssey. Um, we have uh a donation from N New York State section 5 to support the girls flag football program. And uh Patty Hill, Charities Aid Foundation America to support programs at Patty Hill. Thank you for your generosity. Um, so I right do I have a motion? We'd like to. No questions. Let's take a vote. I and all eight of us. Thank you very much. Um, we Okay. Student trip appro approval. So, we have a field trip coming up and we need to vote to approve that. Any qu any questions? Motion. Um, please. Uh, thank you, Mary. No. You have a question? Okay. You want to bring it
076to the table? Can I No, I guess we bring it to I'll bring it to the make a motion to bring it to the table. It's going backwards. Okay. So, Mary, thank you. We have a second. Thank you, Bill. Questions? Mary? Well, I just I was delighted that they wanted to do something so wholesome. A few decades ago, I chaperoned a field trip to Montreal. It wasn't fun. Um, so this I think is just a wonderful thing these kids want to do. That's all. Anybody else comments, questions? So, I actually took a group of kids to Camp Corey before and it was it was exactly what you say. Kids are out in the woods. They're in the nature and they're it's it's a beautiful it's a beautiful thing. So, um let's take a vote. Do
077we approve this uh field trip to Camp Corey? Okay. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Eight. Okay. So, now we have um action for the board of education 10.01 the reorg meeting approval. Um, can somebody bring that to the table, please, Mary? And and thank you, Megan, for seconding it. Um, any questions, concerns about those date, that date. Okay, let's take a vote. I Okay, that's eight of us. And then we have 10.02 2025 2026 board meeting dates approval. Someone bring that to the table, please. Thank you, Jordan. Thank you, uh, Mary. And um any questions? Okay, let's take a vote. Hi. Thank you, Sean. Okay. Eight. 10.03 2025 2026. The Monroe Orleans Boseies 2 budget vote. Um somebody bring that to the table please. Thank you, Mark, and thank you, Jordan, for sec the second
078and um any questions. Okay, let's take a vote. Hi. Thank you. Right, everybody. 10.04, the 2025 2026 Monroe Orleene Boseies two board candidates vote. Someone bring that to the table, please. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, Mark, for the second. Do we have any questions? Okay, let's take a vote and we are good to go. Eight of us and I think we have reached your time to shine, Bill. I I didn't know comments if there was anything, but if they'd like to adjourn this meeting, I make a motion to adjourn this meeting. Thank you. Do we have a second? Thank you, Mark. Thank you, everybody. I appreciate your What' you say? Oh, yes, we do have to vote. Okay, Mark. He goes, "I thought we had to vote." Yes, we have to vote. Hi. All right,
079everybody. Thank you so much. Have a great night. Take care. Thank you.