001Yeah, this one >> facilities and okay >> facilities are >> Are we live? Okay, it's 5:' We're going to open up the August 19th, 2025 facilities and finance committee work session. Uh first order of business. Well, before I start, let me just say we do not have a chair of this committee >> As of yet, that is item uh 4.1. Uh but until then, if my colleagues would indulge me to act as an interim chair uh as chair Merit is here. Um and then we'll get to the uh election of chair. But um let's start then. We've completed item one. Let's go to item two. Item 2.1 is the public comment. We have a few members of the public who've signed up to speak. Uh Karen, if you be so kind as to call their
002names and just ask the folks to come, if you when we call your name, uh please give us grace if we mispronounce. If you could come to the front of the room, there is a microphone there. uh if you could speak into the microphone so that your voice can be heard by those watching at home and recorded on the YouTube uh recording for the record that would be great and we have uh three minutes per person and Trisha will be running the timer. So Karen please. >> Okay. And if I do um pronounce your name incorrectly as Garrick has said I do apologize and please when you come down here introduce yourself to make any corrections whatsoever. Leanne who >> please >> that one. >> Right. Hopefully it's not counted in the three minutes yet.
003Um my last name is pronounced J. Yeah. Uh but thank you for the opportunity and good afternoon. Um I would like to discuss three areas of concern today. Um one transparency and equity, two, mass sequences as core curriculum. And three, mental, social, and emotional support for our students. Before I elaborate, please get to know me. My name is Lean Drew, mom of a rising sophomore at IHS. I also volunteer my time with the IHS PTA uh which is allowing me to connect with families of varying grade levels. Um it was through the grapevine of this network that I sp stumbled upon the finding that AP Calculus BC is reduced to one class section and that most juniors and all sophomore and freshman levels will be denied a seat in this course this fall. Um I
004follow school and district communications diligently but heard none from the official channels. Hence the first concern transparency. Um it is a basic right of guardians to be informed about curriculum failure like this. A core class should be available to everyone who signed up and made plans with their counselor to take it. My second point is about math. Um the IHS math department lists AP Calculus BC as part of the core courses courses sequence. It is foundational and should be provided and supported for all students who successfully completed pre-calc and are educationally ready no matter what grade level they are. If a section is full, another section must be made available. Successful math learning is continuous as we all know. Calculus also serves as pre or co- uh requisite to other core sciences such as AP
005physics. Um what IHS is doing now stalls progress for dozens of brilliant students who will face multiple shut doors due to having to wait one two or even three years before taking their next mass in sequence. Curriculum meeting I know is next Tuesday but you need to know now so we can resolve this before it's too late. I hope you sense my frustration and I'm only the parent. Students who are experiencing this firsthandedly probably are feeling very confused, panicked, and they're lacking a clear direction from their trusted learning partners. Students are at a loss about their future as their past was carved out long time ago and guaranteed for them um from the school. Any form of lottery system creates winners and losers unnecessarily so which is extremely harmful and damaging to student morale and
006precious friendship. So I hope a new school year can be started with refreshed excitement and new challenges. I'm eager to work with you all to examine how we can add sufficient sections or seats to admit everyone who is due to take AP um calculus this fall. Thank you. >> Thank you. Cornelia Ye. Hello, my name is Cornelia Yei and I'm currently a junior at Ithaca High School. Um, I really love my class and I love this community, which is why I'm coming here today to discuss an issue that our class is currently facing. Earlier this month, many of us in the class of 2027 learned that juniors might not be able to take AP Calculus BC because the number of seats in the class had been reduced. This was surprising and also disappointing since for
007many years the vast majority of juniors who have wanted to take this course have been able to do so. With fewer seats available, it feels like my class has been unintentionally left behind. Um, and I understand that uh our district faces many constraints and challenges. So before I continue, I actually wanted to thank a few people. Um the administration IHS has actually been so open and willing to listen to us um even in the middle of the summer. So I truly appreciate um our principal, associate principles and department leaders who um have been giving their time and answering our questions and also working hard to help us navigate this challenge. Um I also wanted to take this time to recognize my classmates. This issue runs very deep for our class, but I'm so proud of
008the way the class of 2027 has handled it. Um, with patience, empathy, and a lot of grace. Um, for the past two years, my class has faced very similar challenges. As freshman and sophomores, many of us wanted to take AP statistics, but seats were reserved for upper classmen. Last year, we had hoped to test into AP chemistry and only a handful of us could get in because the two sections of the class had been reduced to one section. Each time, our class showed understanding and accepted that older students needed those opportunities first, even though when they were our age, they had the opportunities to take these class without facing any barriers. But now we are upper classmen ourselves and we had hoped that our chance would come and instead we are once again being asked
009to step aside. I know my classmates well and I can see that frustration is building and I'm worried that this disappointment may fester into resentment or discouragement. More than anything, I want our class to continue lifting each other up rather than competing against one another for limited spots in a class. I want us to stay collaborators, not competitors. That is why I believe it is so important that we redu we we restore the second section of AP Calculus BC. Doing so would continue the long tradition of excellence at IHS and show students that their hard work and preparation are valued. It's not too late to make this right. And looking ahead, I hope that students, administrators, and district officials can work together to find lasting solutions. Whether that means adding more sections, increasing class sizes,
010or finding new ways to meet demands so that every student who is ready and eager can take a class that taps their potential. An upper classman and underclassmen can take classes side by side. This may seem like a small scheduling issue, but it carries a much bigger meaning for us. Protecting opportunities like these helps preserve the trust, motivation, and sense of fairness that makes our school such a special place. I know that by working together, we can ensure that every student at IHS, not just this class, but the ones to come, has the chance to grow, to learn, and to succeed. Thank you. >> Thank you, Nina Con. >> Thank you. Um, my name is Nina Conn and my son is an incoming ninth grader at the high school. Um, yesterday, fun fact, we learned
011that he would not be able to take a Cal VC because a friend told him there weren't enough spots. Another parent then reached out to me and confirmed this information later in the day. I am really deeply troubled that the school has apparently decided without notifying affected students and parents to allow only some of the students who qualified for CalBC and who registered for it last spring to actually enroll in it. And that's really inconsistent with two goals I've heard schoolboard members articulate in their campaigns, right? Striving for excellence and equity. You know that math classes occur in a standard progression. Each one builds on the next. Students and teachers expect that if a student successfully completes the course, they will take the next one. And that's what IHS's handbook states, and I brought copies
012in case you want them. Um, but apparently the plan is not to keep that promise to all students. It's to penalize students who excelled early, leaving them out in the cold at the last minute. Rumor has it and again I haven't heard anything from the school that students are going to be told that they should just like look in the course catalog and choose I don't know what like something um that's not excellence that's not equity and there's really no excuse. It's entirely predictable that the school would need multiple sections of this class. students marched through in progression um because that is the educationally appropriate path according to the high school um and they registered many months ago. Unfortunately, this is really part of a larger problem that I've seen way too much of already.
013When my son was in first grade, uh my son's principal asked us to consider accelerating him in math because he was struggling socially and academically in the classroom. We worked with the principal and with my son's teachers to come up with a plan. But in each of the past five years, the district has created bizarre roadblocks to that plan. Twice it attempted to deny my son the ability to speak sit for the regents even though it was legally required to do so. Twice it enrolled him in a course that was several years behind the one he had just successfully finished without notifying us. And like this year I had to scramble in the days before classes started to try to sort things out. At this point it doesn't feel just like a coincidence. It feels
014like a deliberate and systematic disregard for students in our district who happen to learn a bit differently. So my ask is really quite simple. All children should be allowed to proceed in the standard sequence as promised and as instructed. They should not be disadvantaged or discriminated against because the way that they learn results in them advancing a little more quickly. you need to reinstate the class. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Satie Hayes. >> Sorry. >> Hi, I'm Satie Hayes. Um, I've had kids at uh BJM, Fall Creek, Boon, and LA IHS. And um I'm here today at office hours to talk about a math problem. And um the question goes like this. How many rising sophomores who took algebra last year are being denied entry to geometry? How many who took geometry last
015year told that they can enter a a lottery or algebra 2? And how many who took algebra 2 and want to continue on to precal have been told, well, they're just going to have to find something else. If the answer to any of those three questions is zero, then the answer to this one should also be zero. How many students who took pre-calc are being told they can't go to calculus BC? From my understanding, the answer to that is at least three, if not at least a dozen. There is not space. There is a lottery for juniors and you can find an alternative is what the 9th, 10th and 11th graders are being told. And I find that unacceptable. This is a course class. This is part of the sequence. It's pretty clear-cut. The students
016in pre-calculus BC, it's quantifiable. It's known. The number of students looking to advance into calculus BC is clear in the spring. So, we have had time to sort this out. We've been able to decipher well in advance how many people and how many seats are needed. We shouldn't be at this point at this time in the year wondering and scrambling how we're going to do this. And it shouldn't be on the shoulders of students to work out a problem that's essentially it's a finance issue, right? It's a funding issue. How do we make sure that people are given the seats that they need to based on what they've metriculated into? The students have every right to expect, having faithfully carried out their end, which is to perform according to the requirements set to them, that
017the school board and the high school will carry out their program of studies faithfully. And I have to say that I'm skeptical anytime an administrator tells me that it's just not feasible in the budget. I come from New Mexico, which is second only to Mississippi in childhood poverty. And I grew up on the income of one of my parents who was a public school teacher. And we have in the Southwest what I call succulent mentality. It's basically like living like a cactus, right? You don't know what you're going to get. And when you get what you need, you make as much use of it as you can. And often we do it beautifully in the Southwest. when Jacob Shiffron was a candidate and he said that um we have funding in this district that's commensurate
018with other districts but somehow other districts managed to use theirs better. That really resonated with me, right? Like why can't we use what we have in a way that gives people what they need? So that is why I'm talking about this tonight in the finance meeting because it is a finance issue. We need to finance the teachers and retain them to ensure that our students are getting what according to the program of studies they're entitled to receive. So, thank you for your time. Appreciate you being here and listening. >> Thank you, Orin Milter. Hello, I'm Orin Milder. Yesterday, I went to my first cross country practice of the season where my teammate gave me big news. He told me I won't be able to take calculus next year because even though I did well in
019pre-cal and signed up for calculus in January, I'm only a ninth grader. You can imagine how surprised and disappointed I was. My teachers and I have been planning for me to take calculus as a freshman for many years. Registered for it last January and I've looked forward to it. And here I was learning about this not from the school but from a friend only two weeks before school. Math had been an important part of my life. In first grade I would annoy my friends by insisting they write me math problems during choice time. That's when my teacher recommended that I try a more advanced math program. Before I started advanced math, I didn't want to go to school. Now I enjoy school and I love math, especially using it to model real life scenarios. For
020example, I find it interesting how trigonometric functions can model tides. If I'm not able to continue along my path, I would be missing an important part of my identity. Math is about continuity. If I can't take calculus next year, not only will I have to wait another year or two or three, but I will lose the foundation which I worked so hard for. I'd have to start some of my learning all over again. Because of that, I would be a significant disadvantage compared to students who are not forced to wait. Thank you for your time and please let me take calculus next year. >> Orin, if I could ask you to pronounce your last name again because I didn't hear clearly. >> Boder as in less spicy. Thank you, >> Robert. We have two more
021names. Robert Kleinberg. Good afternoon. My name is Bobby Kleinberg. My daughter Julia is one of the juniors at IHS who was planning on taking AP Calculus BC this year until she learned that the course only had space for seniors. I came here not to scold or accuse anybody, but just to state how this affects my daughter and her peers and to seek a better understanding of the constraints and possible options for these students. I come from a family of math educators. My grandfather was a high school math teacher in New York City. My father taught math at the University of Buffalo. I hold a PhD in math from MIT and I teach in the computer science department here at Cornell. Before the pandemic, I organized Girls Adventures in Math, an annual event that brought together
022elementary and middle school girls from around the region. Those events gave my daughter and many other girls an early taste of teaming up with peers to tackle exciting math challenges. She has continued to seek out those opportunities. The most recent phase of her math journey began in 9th grade when she was admitted into algebra 2. In an essay she wrote for a teacher last year, she beautifully describes how the class rekindled a love of learning that had diminished during the preceding years of classes that uh felt unchallenging to her. She writes, "At last, I struggled. At last, it was the course that was exciting me, not the goals I set for myself on the side. At last, I had to work for it. And I wasn't the best in the class, not by far. But
023I was the happiest that a school assigned math course had ever made me." Julia wants to continue that struggle and challenge. It's the continuation and the culmination of a multi-year journey that has required a great deal of work and initiative on her part. And over the years of that journey, she's become part of a community of peers struggling together. She wants to remain a part of that cohort, most of whom are seniors now moving on to AP Calculus BC. As a mathematician, I never treat a question as resolved until there is a proof that the answer must be yes or that it must be no. In that sense, the question of whether my daughter and her peers can enroll in the calculus course they desire seems unresolved to me. I have not learned the assumptions
024or the logic underlying the high school's decision to make only one section of calculus BC available this year. Nor have I learned why the circumstances this year are different from the ones that prevailed in previous years when there was enough space for juniors. In the absence of answers to these questions, I still hold out hope that a different decision might be reached and that my remarks today might help bring this about. In closing, I want to say that in my 18 years of living in Ithaca, I've often cited the high quality of our school system when encouraging others to move here. This year, for the first time ever, I heard a friend mention the school system as one of the reasons why they're moving away. It is imperative that we find ways for students who
025want to soar ever higher in their learning to reach the heights they're capable of. Thank you. >> Thank you, Nancy Brown or Brawn. Good evening. I'm Nancy Brun. I teach kindergarten at Caroline Elementary and I'm here to share my experiences um providing a properly furnished classroom at the elementary. Um so this is tied to facilities and also finance. Um I learned from one of my colleagues in the ITA, an occupational therapist, um when she came to uh help me with a student that the tables were about 4 in too high for kindergarteners to be able to write without hiking up their shoulders and elbows. Um, and that set in motion the search for um, proper height tables for kindergarteners to have an ergonomic seating to learn to read and write. Um, it involved working with
026the custodian to try to lower tables that were probably dating to 1958 when the building was constructed. Um, I did go out to the rented storage trailers, the one that we got during the pandemic to put excess furniture in so that we could do social distancing with our tables. Uh we dug through the storage trailers to try to find tables. Um eventually we determined that there were none. Um it was put on me to actually do the shopping through in on a school supply website to try to like find the tables that would fit the classroom and the specifications I had learned from the OT. Um and eventually um put that uh give that information to the school secretary to uh create the order. Eventually, uh, I did get the tables, which is fantastic, and
027the kids love them. Um, it was a lot of work. Um, and my contract states that the administration will provide a properly furnished room, but that was a lot of leg work that kind of fell on me. Um, but one other thing came out of that process, which is that, um, I had transferred to Caroline to replace a retiring teacher in 2021. So, I had never seen the furnishings that were put into our storage trailers. Um, and my name wasn't on any of that furniture as you know, return to Nancy Braun when we go back to regular furnishings. And in the interim, you know, I just did what I could to I never knew anything existed. I was going up to my attic and getting my children's handme-down shelves to create um the kind of
028uh divided activity learning areas for my students. Um, a library corner. um you know, shelves that they can be independent in accessing and uh returning toys and materials to. Um so when I got to see inside the trailer, I saw that my kindergarten section actually those furnishings were there. They had been there. Um I was thrilled, but it was the middle of the year. Um I wasn't about to like spend a weekend trying to swap out furniture. Um, I also had a very small classroom, so I really couldn't um make any new accommodations. So, I did let my principal know early this winter that my plan was to take back my own furniture, move into a bigger space this fall, um, and to get that furniture back. And when I let her know that, um,
029I learned that the trailers were gone and I was instructed to find out what had happened to the furniture. Where was it? Um, it was I was hoping it was put into a spare room in the building, but um, after uh chasing down all the people all the way up to the head of facilities, I learned that it had been disposed of. and if you would be able to wrap it up. >> Okay. Um, thank you. >> I want to know. I was told that it was disposed of because it was broken and not usable. Um, as a taxpayer and as a teacher who wanted and was planning to use that furniture, I would like to know if it was all broken, why did we pay to have it stored for four years and what
030was the cost? Um, and when can I reasonably expect that the district will furnish my classroom so that I can take my furniture back home and maybe give it to my children to set up their own apartments. >> Thank you. >> Is anyone else on the list? >> No, that is it. >> So, um, thank you to the public for coming and I especially want to thank the students who come and spoke so eloquently. It's your school, your school district. So, thank you for coming and having your voice heard. Uh, committee response. Um, the two issues, the the furniture issue and the math issue. Um, I think I can say, and I don't want to speak, by there has been no discussion about financial constraints limiting math choice that I'm aware of. Certainly, it has
031not been in this committee. Um so I don't I don't think the financial constraints at least to my knowledge uh is at play with respect to math selection. At least no issues come before this committee. Uh having said that I I think maybe Dr. Brown perhaps could uh address this issue a little bit. >> Yeah. >> Of course. Thanks for the invitation to share some thoughts and a special thank you to all the folks who came out to share your engagement um on this topic. Um and and let me note I'm not uh Karen Arnold and I'm not the high school principal who I've just been texting with over here. I had the privilege of walking over with the caregiver and not knowing what the conversation was going to be about as far as public
032comment. I recalled the last 15 summers where during August and September we're having conversations about scheduling and massive discussions at the high school. This is the time of year where our counselors and our administrators are attempting to uh rectify conflicts. And what's happened is the schedule was turned over to our counselors about two weeks ago is what I'm learning. And yes, this is a year where we had 40, not to be identifiable, but 41 students who signed up for calculus in one section. So, this is the time of year where we figure out what to do next. Do we offer another section, a new section, an additional section? Do we create a larger classroom which is like the one we built here where we can have more students in that class. This is the time
033of year where we try to figure out how we can accom this is a great challenge to I don't want to say problem. This is a good challenge to have that many young people signing up for this course and we will accommodate that need and if I know it's hard to say trust us or to be patient it always works out. All right. And I've been at this table where each year there's a course. I didn't know was going to be AP calculus this year, but every year there's a course that we have a significant number of young people who sign even during the summer where we have to figure out at this time of year how to fix that before school starts. And that is our effort that's taking place right now. This is
034not to uh counter what was said here. This is not a financial issue. This is a logistical issue and how to do it right. And having been around high schools a long time, there will be some conflicts that we cannot resolve. I know of one student not to be identifiable again that has asked to take six or seven AP courses this year and some of those going to be offered at the same time and they're going to need to be some tough decisions made. All right, and that's a hard to say but I need to say you going to have to make some tough decisions. All right, but when we where there aren't those kind of conflicts that cannot be resolved and we've had I'm looking at some folks who've had to choose orchestra for
035example over an AP course that they really wanted to take. Those are tough decisions, good challenges to have, but some decisions that are going to have to take place for some families. But this is not about whether or not we're going to offer another section or not having the space. We're going to work on that over. I'm asking for your patience, but recognizing your frustration. And I'm speaking as a person who sat here for 15 years having to navigate this each year and it always works out like it should. And if you have questions, call me or Miss Arnold, and we will talk you through this counsel or do whatever we can to accommodate needs, including some innovative approaches to offering it. If you can't fit it into your schedule, which we've done in the
036past, too. Call us if you have questions. All right. The board is not going to solve this issue. We will. >> Thank you for the opportunity. >> And and I'd like to ask Dr. Brown, has there been a situation um due to financial constraints where um I know at one point if the class size is less than a certain amount of students that unfortunately we may not be able to accommodate a request like that >> and that's been something we've been talking about for over a decade. When we do not have a class that will have at least 15 students in it, we have chosen now to be tighter on not offering that course. So I can yes that's connected to finances because it's probably not financially appropriate or efficient to do that. So we
037have been talking about that but that has been in place for years. That's not the situation right now. When we have more than 15 we're doing everything we can to offer it in our schools. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you Dr. >> Yeah. Uh the other issue that uh was raised was furniture and I Dan I'm just reading eye contact but I yeah I I tell me if I read wrong but I just trying to read your face. I I thought you might have some some insight on that uh you could share but if not I don't want to call you out. >> Um >> Dan Brimman I'm the assistant superintendent of operations. Um thank you for sharing that. I'm happy to investigate what happened there and work with uh Nancy to figure out
038what happened. Um I can say that um a lot of the furniture that we put into the trailers was during COVID when we had it when we had certain space requirements in our buildings and to we moved out a lot of furniture uh to accommodate those spacing requirements. But I'd be happy to investigate uh what happened. Also, um I'm sorry you had to order your furniture. We we do have some systems in place and I can talk to you um about, you know, I'm sorry that happened and we can figure out how we can make sure you don't have to order your furniture again like that. So, my apologies. All right. Thanks. I could just add that every month the board has a surplus property report and we try to flag those things to make
039sure that the district is not disposing of property that could be repurposed, reused, recycled. We try to be as diligent as we can about that and we have that discussion every month. But I I don't have the answers to the Caroline kindergarten uh furniture today, but we can try to get that to you. Yeah, I'd be happy to investigate report back then if he'd like some follow. >> Okay. Great. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you everyone. Uh so we're now going to move on to item three, approval of minutes. Uh we have minutes from facilities and from finance. Uh I was not a member of the facilities uh committee last year so I cannot just sit in their approval but those who were >> right and I was here so Todd do you
040want to say you're approving the minutes too or what? Yeah, I mean I I read through them. >> Okay. All right. So, you approve the minutes for facilities. >> Okay. I was present for the June 12th uh finance work session and I say I approve those minutes if my colleagues agree. >> Yep. I'm in agree. >> Okay. So, we have agreement there. Okay. That takes us to um item four, election of a chairperson. Uh just a reminder, we last year we had a separate facilities committee and a separate finance committee. this year because the composition of those two committees are the same three individuals. We thought why not be individual and not not why not be efficient and combine them. So that is what we agreed to do at the last general meeting. Uh and
041then I think that brings us to the issue of whether we can also combine the the chairs. We had discussion of that and we seem to agree on that. So we are now looking for a nomination for a chair of the combined facilities and finance committee. I nominate Garrett to be chair of the combined facilities and finance committee. >> Second neither or not it's seconded. Okay. Um uh I won't third it. Uh but I guess we can uh we can vote on that. So uh is is there agreement on that issue? >> All those in favor? All right. So you have a chair of your facilities and finance committee. Uh which is brings us to the capital project timeline and scope presentation. Do we have uh Petroche here? >> So uh if we could ask
042folks to come down and uh introduce themselves and present uh to the committee and to our visitors the capital project timeline and scope. Uh don't mean to introduce myself again, but I'm Dan Brimman. I'm the assistant superintendent of operations. And with me is uh Chris Gloitz, our lead architect from Tetratech. And uh I'm we're excited to present the capital project timeline and scope presentation. Ahead, Chris. >> Thanks, Dan. And thank you newly combined finance and facilities committee. Um appreciate the opportunity to talk to you about the capital project and we'll get into it now. Um >> where do I point it? that way. >> Yeah. To my computer. Oh, there's only like three slides. So, if we have to do it by hand, it's not it's not not too big a deal. So as we
043work on getting the the first slide, I'll just start in and um provide a little context for this particular conversation which is as many of you are aware that we have been having this conversation you know in planning and discussing the finer points of a a capital project um over you know many months. We are here um to follow up on the recent OACM meeting, owner, architect, construction manager meeting, which is a monthly meeting at which we, you know, get into a lot more of the details uh around capital project planning. Um and to to follow that up with a presentation tonight um seeking, you know, confirmation that it is the board's intent to move forward with a capital project as we've talked about it and I can go through some of the details and
044talk about it in as much as much detail as you like. Um and to review some of the points about next steps if um if you're comfortable moving forward with that. Okay, that's that's the overview. Um all right so I'm going to go from memory here so we have had a number of um facility committee meetings um and other meetings to discuss this um if I guess I'll ask the first question is um based on your understanding uh we can we can go through it later is it is it the intent generally to move forward with bringing a capital project to the voters Uh we can go through the schedule dates the the tentatively we've suggested December 9th as a vote date backing up um a minimum 45 days um which is New York state
045law uh at which point on September 23rd I believe is the identified ideal board meeting date at which to adopt resolutions. So there's some you know just some steps that that need to happen. Um and then between now and then. Thank you. Um between now and then, um we have about a month in which to organize some of your other consultants in order to get those things in place. So that's a high level um of the schedule. Um so I just wanted to see if if if that makes sense so far to this >> I think that makes sense. Yeah, that's the intent of the board knowing that the um we did state that the within the last quarter of this year that we would go to the voters with a capital project. >> Okay.
046>> Um yeah. So, so does that schedule um meet with your approval to the extent that we should continue to move forward with um organizing your other consultants? Uh, so to drill down a little bit on that, I'm sorry. >> Well, that schedule meets with our recommendation to the whole board because as a committee, we can't vote on that, but we would recommend to the board as well as have a presentation >> of what we're going to board starting next week. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Shall we talk about that schedule or you want to let me know when um if there if there's another presentation with the full board that that um we need to Before we move forward with that, >> I would say we we we should present to the board next week.
047Yeah. >> Yeah. But you >> please go through it. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, we have a schedule um now that we've Yes. We we've talked about and I'm hoping to confirm um the scope at least and and thank you for that um that feedback that you know this sort of moving through the process and seeking full board approval for that. Um the next step would be coordinating with um between Tetratech, your AE firm, uh campus construction management, who are your construction managers who advise us on um cost estimating and construction feasibility of projects as well as your your financial adviser. Uh so Ben Meslona from fiscal adviserss has been in you know in this venue and other venues uh to talk about the financial side of things. Um, also we engage your bond council
048which is uh Douglas Goodfriend from Oric uh as well as your lawyers um Kate Reid and and Greg McDonald from BSNK. So we get that group together. We distracted project. you know, there are a couple different uh pieces that those will help those that group uh will help you put in place. Um anticipating the September 23rd um action by the board to get those you know some of those legal notifications and things in place. So any uh I'll I'll talk also about communications. So again once we get confirmation from the full board um we'll start a conversation about how we go about communicating um the capital project scope the details you know when and where to vote you know a lot of practicalities about that so that the um the public understands uh you know
049the the intent of the capital project and and what's included in it. Okay. Um, that looks good to me and u been looking to my colleagues, but that seemed like something I would like to recommend to the full board. >> Great. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Next week. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Thanks. Okay. This is a scope document which uh you know includes the the items that we've talked about over um a number of of meetings and I'm happy to go through it if you'd like. um it is in you know in its content uh should be familiar. So I guess I'll just open it up if you have particular questions. Yeah. >> So you will not >> I'm happy to go through it in detail if you would like. >> Great. All right. We'll take
050it line by line. So roofing um we've identified um Boon Dwit and Caroline as roofs that uh are currently out of warranty and um you know we're recommending for uh replacement of those roof membranes. Um in terms of the science rooms, so there are renovations planned for nine science rooms. Those are at Boon and Dwit. Uh three of them are Boon and six of them are at Dwit um at those middle schools. Um the fire alarms that's um at Ithaca High School in South Hill. Those are the two buildings that currently uh include uh two fire two kind of somewhat independent fire alarm systems and sometimes they don't play nice with one another. We've seen some uh instructional disruption from fire alarms at Ithaca High School in particular. Um some of that may have been
051um in conjunction with construction activities, but um they're older analog systems um in those two buildings. Um the next HVAC line is the geothermal system that we've we've had a number of conversations about that would provide Boon Middle School and Ithaca High School uh with a source for cooling in response to the lakes source cooling um capacity, you know, changing. Then we have uh the charging infrastructure at the transportation center. We've talked about that for some time. That supports um the ongoing plan for school bus electrification. Um the HVAC controls. Uh so these are the sort of the brains that tell the equipment what to do and when and how much. Uh and there are a couple buildings that have been identified. um partially that's just from age of system um and efficiency that can
052be gained by that and so those are Bell Sherman Ka Heights um and BJM abatement this is primarily flooring and IA high school and Caroline have been identified um and talked about uh with regard to sort of the highest need um of just staying ahead of of flooring materials that are starting to degrade uh wellness So um these are your nursing suites, right? So many of them are not um in compliance with the um the uh the ADA code. That's the um Americans with Disabilities Act. Uh I think a high school was recently done in phase one of the last capital project. So that that facility is up to date. Uh but we've identified um that basically all the other other schools um could benefit from some renovations. BJM in particular has a structural issue
053uh with the slab that we've talked about. So that one is in there as well. Well, oh I skipped around a little bit. Sorry. Um playground areas. So we've talked about a few different playgrounds. Um, so I want to take this opportunity to kind of frame the uh the costs and the budgets that we're assigning to these. So um these are budget allocations um that in some cases have more specifics than others. So like roofing, we have a number of square feet and we have a dollar per square foot is pretty straightforward, right? others um like like playgrounds and like bathrooms where we've had a lot of discussions about some specifics. Um we also want to be sure that uh we have a budget that could handle those with some flexibility, right? So we're establishing
054budgets uh for a couple of these areas. Um athletics uh that includes the Boon Middle School floor. There have been some water issues in there. are refinishing that floor and doing a little bit of the work outside to prevent some of that water intrusion. Also, the Ithic High School Bliss gym, uh the bleachers that we've that we've talked about, just just aging out. Um Cuga Heights paving. Again, uh your facilities department has done a great job of keeping, you know, a lot of district uh facilities uh in in in order or having them limp along to really get the full useful life out of them. Uh if you go to Kuga Heights, you'll see some uh some clear pavement failures up there that this would address. Um HVAC controls. Sorry, I I talked about that
055earlier. Um, with the with uh Belchure and Cougar Heights and BJM systems um and bathrooms similar, we've we've talked about uh district-wide many bathrooms um and some more specifically than others. Uh some more urgently than others. Um we have some plans to try to address some of the most um critical needs in the shorter term. Uh but we know that there are many more needs just to upgrade bathrooms that are coming behind that. So, I wanted to keep a keep a budget allocation in to be able to take care of some of those. So, with those with those budgets, um the total of that just added up is 43.9 million as a total referendum cost. And what that means is seeking approval from the public to authorize the school district to spend that much money.
056So, that gives you bonding capacity. uh school districts in New York State are um have municipal bonds uh municipal bonds available to them at at pretty low interest rates for the market. That's typically how school districts fund capital projects and then uh you get aid back from the state of New York uh for eligible expenses. So that's a that's a quick overview. If you have some more specific questions, happy to entertain those. No, I I I I'm looking to my colleagues, but I think uh unless there's disagreement, these are uh items, capital improvements that I think we could eagerly recommend to the full board to put forward before the voters. And I just remind everyone that that referendum is authorizing the board to receive a line of credit. There's still discussions about the actual spending
057on these items. >> Uh but yeah, we I think at least there's disagreement. I think this this committee would would like to see us move forward with uh and ask the public uh for these improvements. >> Just a um aesthetic um HVAC is there twice. I know you noted that. And so those two amounts will be combined. >> Yes. And then just for the um public to know if you saw the categories, it might not I'm not sure if it's up or not, but it's under all of these items that we've been in discussion about for several months now. Um it's under facility improvements, health and wellness, and sustainability. And we always try to specify to the community when we're going out for referendum capital project that what areas we're addressing as a school district.
058And I just also want to emphasize that there is a state rebate of kind on these things which is right around is it 58 you know >> about 58 roughly 5860 some amount of that money will come back to us uh from the state as part of the state funding processing. >> All right. Um if there's no further questions I think we can move on and >> for next week's discussion to the full board we'll get more detail of um like the breakdown of everything because I know that we've in the facilities committee we've been discussing about the bleachers and all of that at the high school so more detail. Okay. So that uh I believe the last time there was a discussion to the full board um there was still some questions some more
059specific questions so narrow it down. >> Okay. Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Uh next item is monthly status report. >> Yeah. Uh at least on this uh screen here, we weren't able to see the presentation. Um I don't know if there's anything we can do to There we thank you. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Excellent. Thank you. Um so, uh again, so I'm Travis Randall. I'm uh project manager for campus construction management and um going to provide a update on the active uh phases uh phases of construction that we have going on right now. The first slide at the top I've included a a couple photos. These are the structural steel for the additions at the high school STEM wing. U these photos are a couple days Now, >> are you able to move
060it to the next one? >> Oh, yeah. You need to short it. Yeah. Oh, am I able to see? Yeah, looks like it. Okay, great. Uh, so as I as I alluded, uh, we have several phases of construction ongoing. Uh, I'll just kind of go down the list here. So phase two is uh primarily complete uh the process. Some contractors have been closed out, others still have not. Uh very recently electrical and general contractors completed a punch list at Pointtonit and South Hill. Some of that work is just uh uh waiting a final inspection. Also in included in phase two some we added some work for a boiler that had a backup boiler that had failed at Bell Sherman. That boiler uh is currently still disconnected. It's awaiting some additional uh parts to the to
061the flu that were needed to be added in order to make the uh boiler function properly. So we're waiting for those parts so that we can so that we can do a startup for that boiler and have it you know work reliably. Uh also we have uh uh testing adjusting and balancing of mechanical equipment uh has been ongoing at Enfield Elementary School. There's We're still trying to iron out a couple rooms with some slight deviations. Uh I'm I'm getting Are we We on the same slide or >> I'm not seeing the slides change in tablet. Is it just >> It's not We have to go along with what's in board dots. >> Well, I have that. I just want to make sure because I can't see what's >> sunscreen above me. If that's correct, then
062we're good. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Uh so to uh as a as a method to help us get through uh uh the challenges that we're having in TAB, we have a uh this uh mechanical equipment is required to undergo third-party commissioning. So we have not yet completed commissioning of the Enfield mechanical equipment and uh we're recommending that we that we move forward with that commissioning process. And just to kind of elaborate on that, the commissioning uh is is just a step towards completion. It doesn't mean the work is complete. Often commissioning uh identifies um shortcomings in the system, a piece of equipment not you know functioning just as specified. So then we can then we can uh address that as they come up. Uh that's kind of what we have remaining on phase two. The
063the list is kind of dwindling there. Uh phase 3A1 which was identified as uh the Enfield roof replacement is complete. That contract has been closed out as has Fall Creek emergency repairs project is now closed out. We had this summer Enfield Elementary School domestic water upgrades on the on the domestic wellwater system. Uh that work is now complete. The equipment's operational. Uh the work was inspected uh just last week and the only remaining thing that we have uh to do is tomorrow owner training is being conducted. Uh, next we have uh I I kind of jump around a little bit so that I keep an entire slide just for 3B1, but uh phase 3B2 is our next phase 2 bid. That's Fall Creek Elementary School playground uh some lighting uh upgrades to the cafeteria. BJM
064lighting upgrades to the cafeteria and high school, more mechanical equipment replacements. Also, uh site work uh along Lake Lake Road um at the the bus loop and kind of area K parking that's planned to go to bid in October. Uh we're still on track for that. So, our our largest active phase of construction, 3B1, uh Beverly J. Martin Elementary School, there's a few minor punch list items that uh the general contractor is working on. Uh Boon Kitchen. Uh we installed a new hood floor trough that works complete. All works ready for final inspections there at Boon. uh at L Enfield Elementary School. We there was a quite a lot of abatement work that happened there this summer as well as uh toilet room renovations. Toilet renovations are nearly complete. It was a very tight schedule
065um for contractors to meet and uh they've been quite successful uh at the toilet rooms. uh the exterior facade and canopy work was delayed because abatement took much longer than scheduled. So the the entry walkways at Enfield uh are going to be completed by the end of next week, but the the facade which is really just an aesthetic the building envelope is is complete. you know, it's it's still there. Uh the facade panels and the aesthetic new canopies, that work is going to remain ongoing after students return. So, it's exterior work and uh we believe it uh won't be disruptive to to teaching and learning andor some of it will be done off hours. Uh so that's Enfield at the high school. Um as you saw in the photos on the first slide, we have
066structural steel uh roof uh and roof decking is nearing completion. Also at the stem area, we have uh ceiling installations are ongoing. Corridor wall tiles are ongoing. Uh doors and hardware in the renovation spaces are being installed so they're ready for uh egress paths for the start of school. Uh also in area H, uh all the mechanical equipment throughout area H has been uh replaced. That works all now installed. There's some minor access panels, touch-up painting for wall chases, and a little bit of ceiling work that it's remaining in area H still. Uh area G, uh all classroom mechanical units, uh are installed. There's some interior offices. Uh just uh yesterday when I when uh when I was preparing this slide, I actually have a little bit more of an update today. Uh this this
067slide says that there may be some spaces uh unavailable for the start of school offices. We're I'm thinking that's not going to be the case. Uh we're pushing hard to have all those spaces ready for occupancy. Uh there will be some spaces in area G that that do have some work remaining. However, uh but the the spaces will be occupiable. They'll they'll be basically done with there'll just be some minor work um remaining to be done off hours for those spaces. >> So any any questions on that? Well, thank you very much, Travis. Um, I I do hope that if there are any spaces that are not available that it will be communicated. Yes. Especially as our staff returns to school that we don't have too many surprises. And if um people are interested in
068seeing the picture that Travis had at the first page about the steel um framing that's up and when you go out of the parking lot, if you're going to the left on Lake Street, you'll see it on the left hand side and that's part of the extension to the STEM building. >> Yep, that's right. Thanks, Karen. Um yeah, we uh camp we're meeting with uh high school leadership Karen uh Scott Regal uh every week we have a standing meeting, but we we also talk to them daily to keep them up to date on the status of of each room as it progresses. So construction, our construction window is always very tight in the summer. We always have a tremendous amount to do. They're down to the wire every year. we we we take on as
069much construction as we're able and so that it's always tight at the end and now we're near the end and as always it's tight but uh I think we're making good progress >> and and this is for the community to know from which capital project what year >> this is yeah all this that that's being presented this was still from the 2019 referendum yeah >> so just for the community to know that things take time and of course after 2019 2019 we had um COVID so bidden and everything was slow go around that time and I know that some Enfield staff may feel concerned because they've had they will have um fatigue of all of the construction that's been happening over the years. But the good thing is that we have an energized new principal
070at Enfield ready to just um welcome all questions that you may have about it and has been updated and continues to be updated so that we just ask people to continue to forge on with us in this process. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Karen, you're going to have to help me. I uh climate action 4.4 before uh since I'm new to facilities uh there was no documentation included >> um we can get additional documentation the um sustainability advocates had presented back in um Todd the back in probably around anywhere from April to or May facilities committee meetings they presented a climate action plan and we had requested that administrator be involved in the whole process as well as we as a facilities committee at that point said that it should be
071an advisory council that be formed so we can present we can get this I don't think they're back to work as of yet the sustainability advocates to just come to the board or or for us to get word in to present that advisory council not another committee but an advisory council which will include staff Dan Brimman being one of them, the some of the sustainability advocates and board members who would like to participate on that advisory council to go through this climate action plan to make sure it's in alignment with what we're doing across the district with um multiple improvements that we have like what the capital project um that we have um in the end of this year because there were some things that we did question as a facilities committee. like um electric
072lawnmowers, things like that. So, >> okay. Thank you. Um so, I'm looking at 604. Uh we I believe have 26 minutes left and we have uh a lot of items in section five and then uh you know pretty important discussion in section six. Um, could I ask uh Dom and Emily to come up and maybe given the sort of tight timeline we have quickly move us through section five uh and then maybe just go straight into section six. That's okay. And and while they're coming up, just knowing that this is the we're combining two committees and we were hopeful that we would have an efficient meeting to make it an hour and a half, but it we may need to extend in the future to two hours, but we do have a special voting meeting
073at 6:35. So, we have to promptly end at 6 I mean special voting meeting at 6:30. So, we have to promptly end at that time. And actually I should just note as a way of wayinding we've now moved from facilities to finance. >> Thank you. >> Uh consideration of accounts >> please. >> Okay. Uh treasures reports. Um we I'm I'm Emily Ship and I work in the business office. Um and the treasures report is for May and June. Um we are entering into our financial audit on Monday. Um, so it's basically end of year, not really much to tell. We will have more to report after the audit is finalized. Um, it's just the cash. Um, and of course, as we get into the summer, cash always goes low. Uh, then we also have the,
074uh, food service profit and loss. Again, um, we are in much better shape at the end of this year with our food service. Um, and and I think it was around I don't have it right here in front of me, but I think it was around 4 500,000 600,000 deficit last year and we're at um 86k this year. So, um, making improvements, a lot of things that we're doing there. Again, we'll have a better report after the audit findings um at the after next week and probably towards the end of September. uh transfers. These are the final transfers for 2425. There are no transfers for 2526 that exceed the $10,000 mark. So, it's a lot of housekeeping transfers that we do at the end of the year, moving textbook money around to make sure all
075those lines are in balance. Um, a few more payroll uh changes, contractual, I've grouped them out to each of the different categories to make it easy on you for you to look at those. Um, but that brings our budget. every line is uh is in a positive state at this point as we enter into our uh audit. We have tuition rates. Um this is just kind of a a housekeeping thing. Every year districts must uh establish tuition rates. We typically take our prior year actual rates and that's what we apply to this year. Um our actual rates, we don't find the rates out until March, I believe, the actual rates for the year. So um it's standard practice to do that instead of going with estimated rates. Oh let's see let me fly through this.
076The other things were um bidding cooperative bidding. So we um every year we do approve our participation in cooperative bidding um in our reorg meeting but the boseies that we belong to do require us to um complete these uh resolutions that we return to them. So for the DCMO uh participation in their bidding, this is just standard resolution saying yes, we're going to participate. Yes, we're going to follow all those uh recommendations based on the committees after they do the bidding process. The other one is the GST Boseies and this is actually the um uh authorization for them to award the uh milk. I believe it is the milk, the ice cream, the bread and the paper bed. They all get uh bid out at different times as we uh proceed throughout the summer. So
077the latest one was the paper bid. We were able to add that on and again it's just the consent of the board that go forward GST. We like your bids and we like the process. Um then we also have uh our salt and deicing crystals and our uh pizza uh pizza bid which we corrected earlier. Um, and I don't have that one in front of me. Um, so that is just uh we did a private bid within the district for our annual purchasing of the uh salt and deicing crystals uh for hopefully um not too bad of a winter up ahead. And then our pizza and uh crossfit for our um food service department. Um so those we are asking for recommendations and we follow all the bidding process and and it's our recommendation to
078authorize the two that are um I think it's for salt and deicing is the um MRX and Papa John's is for the pizza and I think I've flown through everything I have and I did pretty good >> not normal for me >> but um with regard to the pizza bit so we went out to This looks like probably about 15 pizza places within the area and only two came back to us. >> That's a good thing to note. Interesting. Not good. Interesting. >> Is there a call to the Ethica Pizza community to rise up a little more next year? >> I think this has happened previously too. >> Yes. Last year with the same thing. >> Yeah. We just get the two >> bids. That's the first time I've heard a humorous dough joke, right?
079>> Perfect. Fantastic. Uh, thank you. So, uh, first let me start by introducing myself. This is really >> Did you get the Trisha was trying now? It's >> I I have We all have the presentation. Sometimes it's hard to know who you are. So, we have it set up now. >> You flipped through a slide where we see each one. advance a slide would No, it doesn't work. >> Why don't you get started and help you to try to get it to sync, you know? >> Sure. >> Given that we're in the beginning of the process, I just thought I would introduce myself and Emily Ship. I'm uh Don Lesey. I'm the uh assistant superintendent for business and finance and Emily Ship, our business manager. Uh we represent a a wonderful group of folks in
080the business office and uh and we're sort of excited to get the year started. Uh it's my understanding as you know I started last in in January of last year in the middle of the budget process. But it's my understanding this presentation has been given pretty much on a yearly basis. It's essentially a 101 of the budget process since and this is really sort of the beginning of that. So and given the time constraints I'm going to consolidate a little bit because we're going to dig into this a lot more as the year uh progresses. It gives you but at least >> at least I can follow it. Right. Right. Right. Uh we're going to start with the what what is a budget? I know it's sounds basic but really it's it's an illustration of
081sort of the changes and prioritization and the goal setting from year to year. Uh it it and what's really important is it's essentially an estimate of what we anticipate the expenses to be in the subsequent year. >> Yes. Ah >> here we go. Do you guys have it? >> It's It's getting there. >> Okay. >> And really the best way to express that, thank you so much. Is it's a representation of what's occurred in the past, sort of where we are in the present and looking sort of visualizing where we where we might be in terms of that estimate for the future. The process itself uh takes place over the next several months. Uh and during that time we work with various stakeholders including the board of education, the finance committee, our building leaders uh
082and so on to to start to calculate that that estimate. Just to give you a sense of the timeline, our fiscal year is between July 1st and June 30th. The budget development process takes place from December to April. And I'm often asked by folks, you know, when does your your bud budget season begin? It really never ends for us, but practically speaking for the board and for the community, it's December through April. In April, it culminates in the board of education adopting a budget that we that we uh share. And in May, the public will vote whether or not to approve that budget. And also at that time, we have board of education elections. Currently, we're in the process of analyzing the expenditures of the budget that was passed in May of 2024. That being,
083of course, the fiscal year 2025. That analysis results in a series of various reports, expense reports that are vetted by uh our auditors, which we then report to the state and that information is then posted on our website. we compare our estimates of our expenses uh from what was actually expended and that kind of allows us uh to uh prepare and plan for the upcoming budget. Uh we also have a period where we examine funds that were set aside for anticipated expenditures. We refer to those as incumbrances. Uh and we reconcile those funds with uh with the bills that made the outstanding or projects that go from year to year. We also have an audit committee that's uh separate from the finance committee and that audit committee also serves as an accountability factor for the
084purpose of reviewing uh our expenditures. So one of the questions that's sort of critical in the process is where does our revenue come from? Uh our revenue first and foremost the bulk of our revenue comes from the local tax year. uh almost 68% in the fiscal year. I keep forgetting that it's different here than up there. >> We're frozen. >> It's not behaving. That's I can talk through it. So about 68% of our total revenue comes from the local tax share homeowners and ventures. Um and for fiscal year 26 we know sure that uh about 27 or sorry 22% 22 to 23% of that uh of our revenue will be from state aid. Uh we have other miscellaneous revenue about 4% of that comes from our interest and our pilots uh and tuition although not
085not very much actually comes from tuition and the remaining balance is from our fund balance and reserves and we're going to talk a little bit more about fund balance and reserves. We do that throughout the process quite a bit. Um so I may just bypass that for this evening but again we'll be sharing a great deal more of that information as as uh as time moves on through the budget process. uh didn't want to show think we're going to be able to do that unfortunately. >> One of the things important is how our our budget is allocated, how it's expended. And so we have this great chart that we can't show you this evening, but we'll share that again throughout uh the next several months. But our expenses, just to to uh give you a
086sense of what that looks like, about 70% of our overall expenditures are salaries and benefits. that's sort of important to share. The the remaining 30% of that is Boseies. It's our debt payments, our contractual obligations uh and items such as equipment and supplies. And I'm going to let Emily share with you our various funds uh and and what those actually mean and how we how we uh manage those. >> Okay. The general fund is what the taxpayers um vote on every year in May. Um, and that is the bulk of what we do as a school district. Um, then we have uh funds uh for school lunch is what we refer to as the C fund. And I I'm using the letters because it is part of the budget code. So when you see it
087beginning with an A, you know, it's general fund. Um C fund is school lunch. We have special aid fund. Those are the grants that we get in. Um and off the top of my head, I don't have it written down, but I think that equates to around 5 million. um maybe a little over five million in grants that we have right now. Um there's never any guarantee of what we're going to get in those grants, but it is money that we get in um that supports us. There's the dollar >> we can go back too. Um H fund is our capital fund. So that is money that is um as they spoke earlier in the facilities meeting um that goes towards keeping our buildings and our um facilities up to speed. And um it is
088also uh we get 58% back on every dollar 58 cents on every dollar back for every dollar we spend as long as it's aidable. Under the capital projects we have a CM fund which is our trust. Those are our awards that we do at the end of the year and anything that um is donated for a specific purpose. We have some trusts that uh benefit uh medical needs of some of our students um some um uh uh clothing needs and then mostly the graduation awards. Uh we do have one that supports our libraries and those all uh are in the trust. We have our CS risk assessment. That's our health benefits um program that we are self-funded. So we have that separated out and then we also have uh money that is set aside debt
089service and that helps pay back debt uh uh that we've incurred through our capital projects. And as we go forward into the more in the budget process, we'll kind of deep dive into what how the budget codes are broken down into the programs and the functions and how we have to report at a state level. So, we're also going to share uh our IT department and communications department do an awful lot of work in preparing the information and making sure that it's posted and available publicly. So, we're going to show on our website where this information can be found because I think one of the most important purposes of not only this committee but the work that we're doing in terms of the budget is making sure that the public can see it, review it.
090Uh it's an accountability factor for us as well. So, on our website under about us, you'll see the section under budget development. You can go to the next slide and on that particular page you'll see all of the information that we shared during this process uh so that that can be reviewed at your leisure including the videos and so on. Next okay aside from the reserves that's what we have. Do we want to go back? We can go back to that section if you'd like and talk about the reserves if we have time for good. Okay we can do that. Sure. So when we talk about our revenue, one of the areas that we uh we sort of delve into quite a bit during the process is our reserves and fund balance. We have a
091number of reserves that are essentially referred to as set aides such as our insurance liability, our health care, retirement. We also have the capital reserve. We just had that discussion regarding our capital projects which helps us fund those particular uh aspects of uh the district uh finances. Our um those are re those are referred to as our reserve fund balance. Those set aids and those are set aside for very specific purposes. Our unreserved fund balance is composed of our unappropriated fund balance best identified as essentially like a rainy day fund uh for lack of better of a better term. And the reason why that's important, uh, just to share some information with you that we received from the state controller and the division of budget, was that in their most recent analysis, they're looking at
092almost a $7.5 billion gap in the state budget within two years, two fiscal years. So that rainy day fund in the reserves helps us prepare for that because in the past, we've seen where that's actually uh been detrimental to uh school district budgets. So that rainy day fund can help us through those difficult times. So that's an important aspect of our reserves and fund balance. Also, we have our appropriated fund balance. These are funds that we set aside to offset the upcoming year's budget. Um it's important to note that uh we may not expend those funds. We don't always expend those funds, but having a healthy appropriated fund balance does play into our and is an important aspect of our financial health when it comes to our bond rating. And I know we just talked
093about the capital projects and how we bond for those and receive aid. That bond rating allows us to have a much lower interest rate when we go out for that purpose. And that's a critical factor. Um we've asked that uh fiscal advisors uh present to the board of education at our next meeting and they'll talk a little bit more about that whole process uh so that we can have a clear understanding of what that looks like. >> Doug, could you sure >> just in rough terms put an order of magnitude on what is our exposure to this uncertainty from Albany? Kind of like what share of our pie is is potentially at risk here. >> Sure. I you know we receive about 23% of our of our revenue through state aid. Um it would be
094difficult to make a direct correlation to that gap but in the past we've seen where where the state when they've when they've experienced a gap that it has had a direct impact on school districts aid. So um it would be hard to come up with a number for us but it could have an impact and so being prepared with our reserves is critical. So potentially 23% of our revenue has some degree, we don't know how much yet of vulnerability that we have to prepare for. >> Correct. And we're also looking at the uncertainty from um federal funding. Uh you know, we receive between five and $6 million a year from the federal government in terms of uh grants and so on. So uh >> so state is 23% I guess 5 million 160 is what
095two two another two 3% from federal >> and so all that is >> that's right. some degree of risk. >> That's correct. So, you know, when we talk about our reserves, our reserves are healthy. We're in great shape. Uh I think um the uh the work that we've done to get there is exceptional. Uh but as we know, there are peaks and valleys in in school district budgeting. So, being prepared for that is is uh is a good move on our part. >> From what I'm hearing, this is a good time to have healthy >> correct >> fund balance and healthy reserve funds. >> Absolutely. >> And with that, if there's questions, we'll be happy to attend to those. >> Questions? >> Well, um, with the pie chart of the allocation, if we could also
096include percentage next to the amount because some people >> I know I would welcome that. >> Absolutely. and um in the revenue section and you' stated other miscellaneous that tuition although that's listed here but not really. >> Yeah. >> So um >> Sure. >> because it because it just seems like that top three and people are going to start asking what are we charging? >> Right. >> Absolutely. So we do have a a tuition fee that we all get. It would probably be better to explain this, but we do have a a certain amount that we are supposed to charge for tuition for out of district. We don't have a lot of students that fit that. So, that's why it's not a large number for us, but we put it up there in case that
097is it's something that we should explain because it's a there's potential for that. So, we also received funds from Cornell uh to offset some of this, but it's part of that other >> and and thank you for um um showing in this presentation where the community can find the budget development information and all. It would be good to put budgeting 101 up there. Sure. also to make um our lives easier as well as to always inform people that the budget in process as you stated is all year round. It does not occur April >> right >> for May vote but year-long process. So thank you very much. >> Sure. My pleasure. >> Just I mean actually maybe just to put on the record because we're talking about a a capital campaign uh for a vote
098in December. Mhm. >> The amount of money that we pay on debt service is set at was it seven >> 7%. >> That right. >> Correct. >> So when we look at our expenditures that that line item is always going to be at or around or below >> correct. That's right. >> And that's true whether or not we pass the >> Yeah. >> To approximate, right? way. If we were to pass the capital >> improvement, if that vote were to be yes, yes, we would still cap that at 7%. >> Correct. Correct. >> It's important to illustrate that. So, I I because with this coming up, I there's there may be some misinformation about how that works. So, I think we're looking at 42 or 43 million for >> 43.9. I knew you'd have it
099too. 43.9 million for the capital project. I think when we go out to vote, a lot of times folks think that we're asking for that money up front. Now taxpayers pay that those funds in one way, shape or form, whether it's local tax funds or to the state and comes back to us. But uh we actually go and we bond for that amount. So it's essentially a loan that we receive and that's why I mentioned that our bond rating is so important because the interest rate is is directly correlates to how healthy our fund balance and reserve is. So, uh, we want a strong bond rating when we go out for those loans. Then we receive 58 cents on the dollar back in aid as we complete those building projects or those projects that are
100under the capital project. So that debt limit that we have, that 7% is something that we plan in our budget every year. So 7% of our budget are those payments that are allocated to that. Then we receive aid back on those payments to that to that 58 cents on the dollar amount. So in that sense, we're disciplined that we have a hard cap on correct >> the amount of our expenditures that would go to debt service. >> That's correct. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> The other good >> board uh it's 627 uh we call a threem minute uh short for recess and then we'll resume as a full board. You did a good time. >> You did a great job.