001is an unusual fantastic well we are called uh this meeting to order this is uh our Thursday August 10th meeting thanks to the board members for rearranging their schedules for making this happen and uh to begin with we will entertain motions I have a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose discussions regarding proposed pendant or current litigation Collective negotiations pursuant to article 14 of the Civil Service law and matters leading to the appointment employment promotion demotion discipline suspension dismissal or removal of a particular person or cooperation second by Jill any discussion a question all in favor passes unanimously uh we do anticipate a full executive session so we've got uh close to seven uh okay great thank you uh we will continue on with our agenda which includes um any modifications uh of
002the agenda hearing none will continue on to agenda item 4.1 uh with a presentation about uh another trip tomorrow we welcome to listen here folks thank you I swear I'm going this time right now just wait a second for the slides fantastic so we are back uh to request permission for um this year's Morocco trip we are our plan is to go again in February um and uh there's a few things that are new and shifting a little bit that we wanted to share with you tonight um and then just go over sort of the basics of the plan and the budget and all that sort of thing um my computer thank you so much the battery I was wondering about that too um so uh this year we'll we plan to again fly into
003Casablanca um but we're instead of going north which is what we did last year um we plan to do the southern route this year um and the will be heading to the city of Benny malal which is uh where there's a high school that we have worked with in the past um and that we are hoping to meet up with again um we are hoping to do uh home stays this year so we'll see if we can set that up last year it was um not possible still sort of like residual coveted concerns I think that that families in the school had so um and then we'll go to Marrakech we get to go out into the desert which will be really fun and then head to the coast there so that's sort of the
004the general plan right now um an itinerary um so some of this information is probably familiar to you by now we've had several iterations of this presentation a little bit about Morocco it's a very diverse Nation um primarily Arab and Berber Islam is the predominant religion although there's also a large Jewish population the um common languages there Arabic that's like the local dialect Berber um French English and Spanish are all widely spoken so if the students have French or Spanish as you know one of their languages they often have a chance to practice that in the market um and we run workshops before we leave so that students have some background information on language religion and culture we do language workshops and we try to invite um people to come in and present about Moroccan
005religion and culture um we have been going to Morocco since I think was the first Morocco trip and we had a small break there because covid prevented international travel for a couple of years but we're really hoping to continue our Partnerships there um with a new a new group of students so we aim to partner with a Moroccan school so that our students have the chance to interact directly with students of their own age and to have real experiences with those students the homestays are a big piece of that but even if we don't manage to do the homestays they still get to visit a Moroccan school they get to go to some classes they get to interact and have um you know do different things with the students and a lot of the students
006who've gone in the past have reported that they've made lasting friendships and hap and still continue to speak to Moroccan students long after they have turned and that is our goal our primary goal is to develop real and meaningful relationships that help bridge the gap between cultures and to build better understanding about people from different places people with different religions and in part to help combat stereotypes about Muslims that continue to dominate certain parts of American Media America's relationship with the Middle East has always been a little bit complicated and so we believe that the strongest path towards about our future is better understanding one another um so we are aware that this is an expensive trip and we uh last year and continue to expand this year uh are looking for uh ways to
007help support students um in in making this happen um the estimated cost would be two thousand two hundred dollars per student we do fundraising throughout the fall um in a variety of different ways our biggest fundraiser is leaf raking believe it or not and people are really gentle with the donations that they give us when we come in and rake their lawns um and so it actually it's a lot of work um but it's also this really lovely bonding that happens at that time like most of the students last year I didn't know yet and I got to know them through raking with them and so that actually it's it's a two-fold process um and that that goes into a pool to lower the cost for all of the students um in last for last
008year we received um a grant from iupei uh and we'll apply for for again this year uh one thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars um our goal this year is to start connecting and seeking sponsorships either through organizations or um businesses so one of the collaborations that we started this year um is with giac and um uh many of you know Leslie and who's the director of Jack and her daughter went on the trip last year and actually came and Chris was one of the people to present and she and I had a conversation about um working with G act to um uh you know they they participated in our fundraising efforts last year and to also work with them to identify students who might not see the go to Morocco poster and think hey
009I can do that um and they're going to help support those students um through their team program to go and get their passports and those kinds of things so we're starting this collaboration which I'm we're really excited about um we did have a couple students go last year who had never traveled internationally before and um that was the highlight of the trip for me is watching them just their whole experience expanded it was phenomenal so we'd really like to do more of that with this trip for sure um we will be offering full for some students and partial scholarships to meet uh students requested financial needs so we were able to do that last year um we talked a little bit about the opportunity for homestays again we certainly haven't finalized this piece yet but
010if we are able to pull that together we would really like to and what we do is we put two or three of our students in a home with one of the Moroccan students and their families and those families are chosen embedded by the school directors in Morocco um and what we do it that way so that none of our students are completely isolated like they still have um you know people that they know and are comfortable with with them at all times so that you know we can maximize the student's comfort and I think that the homestays really introduced a piece of authenticity that is sometimes lost when you're traveling with a large group of American students in a foreign country because it allows them to see daily life you know what it's actually
011like to live and be in another place and to you know actually spend time with these families so I'm really hopeful that we'll be able to put that piece together um again kovid was a bit of a concern last year but perhaps we will be able to overcome that barrier this year and the school that we're visiting uh that we'll be partnering with this year will be is a school that we've done that with in the past so that might make it a little easier to set that up [Music] um so all the students have to be vaccinated before traveling um and have the records for that our nurses were a phenomenal helping us sort through all of that paperwork last year um the covid vaccination rate in Morocco is higher than that of the
012U.S um we will have a plan in place in the event that a student or chaperone becomes ill while traveling um we did have an issue last year where we had two students test positive for coveted right before the trip and were unable to go and that was just frustrating and devastating I don't know what the coveted policies will be for the school district this year so we'll be working with um Caribou with that um to clarify that um but if somebody does become ill we always have a a plan to while before there uh we always have a plan to make sure that they can be quarantined and there will be a chaperone that will stay in the room right next door and that sort of thing so um fortunately people did stay healthy
013on the trip this past year um tourism is one of Morocco's largest Industries so people are a very welcoming we felt um very welcomed and uh people were were curious and interested and um uh the interactions were really overall pretty positive uh students will be supervised at all times we partnered with a professional trip coordinator in Morocco Rasheed who is phenomenal um his his phrase is no problem but what happens no matter what we ask he just handles it it's phenomenal like I uh Liz assured me that that would be the case before we went and I was like yeah but I haven't met this guy and as soon as I met him I was like okay he he really does handle things he has uh tons of experience connections and anything the kids students
014were curious about he set it up like so it was really quite extraordinary um and he fed us ridiculous amounts of food um so he really manages all of the logistics and it's just so helpful that I can then that the staff we were really able to focus on the students and their experience and making sure that they were getting the most out of it so that was really phenomenal did a variety of different mosques um they'll attend a local high school we have guided visits to the Medina the older parts of several different Moroccan cities including Mark and the markets of Marrakesh are famous for a really good reason right there are so many things for them to see and experience in the markets of Marrakesh they'll need like eight extra sets of eyes
015um they'll get to go to the beach we will get to go on a camel ride in the Sahara the students always really look forward to that one um the Sahara is breathtaking just the Spanish students have to be seen to peacefully I appreciated um they'll enjoy a lot of local Cuisine and tea ceremonies they will all come back talking to you about the food and they'll hear traditional music so they'll have a wonderful experience we're really hoping that they will have a chance to come back and share it with you that's it that's all I have okay to field any questions so this will be the third thing this will be the third Moroccan trip yeah so we started in 2018. yeah there were three that happened before coven yeah then last year's and
016then this would be the fifth maybe it was 2017. I don't remember but this is the fifth one I believe and are you having any any return students or students okay no we have students who are Juniors last year who would be seniors this year who like please can we go again we could be like extra hopeful like it really is not fair for that to be the case well I have one last question um how many hours prep work for the students do they do before a lot so we have um one meeting per month that is mandatory that they're required to attend and those meetings um include like informational pieces logistical detail but they also are educational so we want to make sure the students have appropriate preparation and background before we go
017in um they have to attend three workshops language culture and religion and then there's a mandatory like the students have to put in a certain number of fundraising hours um in order to support the like trips fundraising goals of making it Equitable and accessible to everyone so the students all contribute to that goal um and they can sign up for different activities like different things that they want to do to help um so that part is also like a requirement and then we have like two parent meetings that the students don't have to attend but the parents usually we'd get as many parents as we can to those meetings am I forgetting anything no I think that's about right so I'm not sure how many hours that adds up to specifically but it gives you
018a sentence for okay thank you because I was looking at prep work which we did Define especially for cultural preparation yeah thank you how many students get to participate usually 24 24 okay and then I guess I'm just curious as to how do students find out about it and how do they kind of opt in yeah um so we do the students who went on the trip last year at the end of the year last year they went into different classes sophomore and Junior classes in English and social studies and talked about the trips to their classmates and gave a free presentation about this better well to share their experience and encourage people to apply and then we also I mean we put out posters and we put it up on the announcements and on
019campus and we are working with several Partners including Gia who try to get students to apply contain an authorizing file so we're working really hard to try to increase our applicant will get as many students from different you know what communities as possible to to sign up the application process happens in the spring um and then it is the application process is not in any way associated with academics or like academic achievement instead we're looking for students who are adaptable and looking for new experiences who are open to new experiences and who um we think will be who we think will be able to keep an open mind and open heart in new circumstances so looking for Community involvement Community engagement um things like that you advertise on like these posters that scholarships are available
020we'll help you get your passport kind of maybe things in the announcements that we do and on the canvas announcement and that kind of thing but but I do think it's a challenge right I mean that is I think there are some students who see oh trip to Morocco and think I can do that and there's some students who see that and think I can't do that which is why these Partners Community Partnerships are so important because they can they they know student the students very well and can say hey I think you'd be great for this and I think that this would be a great experience for you and you can handle it and we're going to help support you and they'll help support you and there's fundraising and funds available for this and
021so you can do this kind of thing I think that's a really important thing from somebody that that they know and trust yeah [Music] what we heard last year um in the years before it is as we know it's a life changing it is if there's no other questions from board members we can entertain motions international travel has to be approved by the board for new board members and is this the only study abroad that happens nearly no no we had a presentation about a proposed trip first time to Vietnam for many many years there's been I mean decades actually and exchange trip to England there's a trip to Germany there's trips to France and Spain or French and Spanish-speaking countries so but they need to be approved yearly yes as an AF doesn't Lacs
022go to South America also sometimes I mean they they have a they go to a Spanish-speaking country and they alternate uh one year's Fringe trip one year it's a Spanish trip in you know and we have good folks here earlier so they could start some of their work differently as possible and that's why we're on the agenda for tonight so I will move to approve the international field trip to Morocco from February 16th to February 24th 2024 as recommended by the superintendent second moved by Morris second by Adam any other discussion or questions all in favor it is unanimous we look forward to the presentation thank you thank you very much I'm going to Morocco in about six weeks so I will email you for the absolutely most things I must do very happy to
023recommend some um uh Ludy or Augustine social studies Liz Campbell um oh that's right I forgot she used to be Liz Kayla um but uh Liz Crawford and who teaches English my apologies for not asking you to introduce yourself but thank you um next on our agenda is public comment we have anyone who signed up we have known and signed up so that means there should not be any board responses uh we kept student reps on here as just a placehold to remind us that when our students are back you know fall that they will be joining our board meetings and speaking as well um we will next go to the consent agenda and we'll entertain motions and then discussion okay moving things along uh motion to move for approval all consent agenda items listed
024in consent agenda consideration of accounts Personnel report students in minutes of previous meetings as presented exactly moved by Morris segmented by Joe questions discussion [Music] we have an additional Personnel report that we're voting on next week yes and we will have another one the following week and probably another one the following week as well this is a busy time of the airports uh so just for folks at home we are working through some uh memorandum understanding or agreements with our unions we will be appointing a deputy district clerk to provide some assistance which uh hopefuls found during this past election uh went exceptionally well uh it was amazing so thank you Trisha and to Emily and the appointments of the fine and Performing Arts Dasa coordinator uh that's what the f space uh and then
025that also includes um the oh we should ask this uh also on the consent agenda is the resolution to approve a corrective action plan for a single audit item that involved our school lunch program Amanda can we just have you provide a quick update on that for folks should have worn different shoes hi everyone so um this was included in our audit report it was the first year that was included in the larger Auto report we used to get it um actually separately from that in the audit report there is a response but there was a new Step that you actually have to adopt it by the board and so we were told that we wanted to um bring that to you today as you notice the dates were from the prior Year's audit in
02622. um that um moment that they're talking about was actually related to food service right the single audit actually does a deeper dive in a particular area of our operations that happen to be food service that year we knew we had more fun balance um for the program for what was required um and so we had a plan to purchase equipment and um to support the operations of the kitchen and so that was part of our plan we've actually done accordingly um it was accepted in the audit document but this is just one additional step [Music] I mean I know there's also another item here about uh Surplus and I know that Dr Brian and I have been having some conversations and some board members May received emails from community members asking about our Surplus
027process and I don't know if anyone is prepared to speak to make sure that we are something that we're reviewing as we speak is that correct if I want to buy the trailer Surplus trailer so um thanks everybody yeah so uh there's a lot of Pathways for Define uh for finding out whether we need to bring items for Surplus and our policy right now in uh 6910 it talks about large property items and this would be chairs desks uh it says machines equipment but it has it has to be um it has to be in good repair it cannot be damaged or broken and um if it's a large property item that's language the policy uses uh we will uh it can be auctioned now uh in the past few weeks I've met with the
028communication team and we're working on a plan to have uh regular auctions through uh we've done uh over covid we use Facebook Marketplace um the bus garage uses an outside auction uh Source uh but working with communication team we'd like to set up um a regular auction uh uh events through Facebook Marketplace um I'd also like to say that we work with um uh in terms of in terms of deaths recently we have uh thanks to Amanda verbin a partnership with TSD BOCES we have worked on an exchange and they have purchased some of our items um for a certain value okay um in our policy 6910 it also talks about small property items and these are books or pamphlets so it's like um education educational materials and I'm working with a communication team and
029Facilities to figure out how we can set up times to offload old uh or uh no longer use education materials to our community um and then the third part of this is how we do how we Define If an item what do we do if an item is broken or damaged because that's come up as well um so we do is um and we're going to work on communication to um all of our custodians through the communication team and a flyer and a flow chart um but if they think an item is broken or damaged they can reach out to Heather Williams or Sean Ward Sean Ward is our number two person in facilities for approval first um and if it is broken we put it on a facility spreadsheet and then we we um
030add it to the board reports um we also you know we do we are starting to do a lot more of um uh scrap metal with metal items um and so that's that's Recycling and then we do get some funds back for that as well um so that's another positive there but I I think um you know the biggest thing we're working on is better communication and um uh better communication and better education of our staff on when to make these decisions when to call your supervisor but then also setting up regular uh and consistent times when we are setting up auctions through Facebook Marketplace and you mentioned the scrap metal which you can actually sell yeah get some money but other things that are recyclable is there you know an effort to make sure
031that anything that is recyclable gets recycled um there there is I mean I guess it depends on on what you're talking about um there's a large range of things that can be recyclable um uh we just had some uh early conversations about uh wood and we're talking to um uh very informal conversations about what to do with some of our older wood items and how to get rid of them in a in a more sustainable way reclaiming reclaiming the what yeah that sounds like a topic for her and advisory Council um additional questions that folks may have okay all right thanks everybody any additional questions or comments about the consent agenda hearing none we will call the question all in favor of the consent agenda that passage unanimously thank everybody we will continue with our
032agenda and it brings us uh to uh Dr Brown the superintendent reporter all right thank you for the opportunity to share Professor uh my comments and I will be around the theme of thanking folks and uh recognizing folks who've been visiting with us now again whenever there's someone who's visiting with us from the Commonwealth of Virginia you know I'm going to shout them out so uh Mr thank you Jenna for being here tonight um with us and thank you for your engagement in the meeting this evening and thank you for your support of Mr Blaylock who um this is going to be the first of many many meetings he's gonna be in a long time so uh thank you for your support um and you didn't know Garrett's Mom all the way from the Commonwealth
033of Virginia I appreciate you Route 81 is a long ride so thank you also uh a shout out to Dr Tripp uh Miss Lane Mr Harris and all the folks who have been supportive of us uh and attended uh uh commission uh on diversity and inclusivity and now summer Symposium this past week we had about 400 Educators from all over our state and Vermont um visit here um over 35 different school districts um we have we proudly and boldly say we have the best summer professional development in the nation and um people who come here say that they keep coming back and it keeps getting bigger um this year we had Yolanda celi Ruiz come back as a keynote speaker Dr Monique coopson was here as well and Joe Feldman all Fields keynote speakers people
034are lucky if they can get them on a virtual call we have them all here in person and a significant number of our Educators were here as well so it's just a wonderful week professional development um we have some some of our amazing students um provided a uh afternoon keynote slash panel discussion and we have students from Vermont come in and provide some insides too okay perspective this was the best one yet um thank you for your support and allowing for us to open our doors and to be seen and to practice being a national leader in the work particularly around diversity equity and inclusion I appreciate you all that was fun and then uh finally you know there's that's not as families anymore tonight y'all um and I want to say thank you for
035being here and uh a few months ago about to earned tenure as an educator for inclusion and you know not when I was working in Virginia in the Commonwealth when this notion of opinion when I heard that people got tenure they would just stay in the job I thought that's what people would do when they got tenured they would stay in that job and be comfortable um how wrong was I um Beth got tenure a few months ago and applied for another job shortly a thereafter um and Beth is going to be transitioning into the associate principal at Northeast Elementary School um Beth for some folks in the room you've seen you know about this as a student she was one of the best students to ever come through here don't let Julie know I've
036said that but she's one of the deaf students to ever come to the city school district and then you know frankly I I've been in her classroom she was one of the best teachers I've ever seen in the space I aspire to be an elementary teacher like a Beth Snyder and then I've seen her as an administrator and she is one of the best administrators in New York state and we're fortunate to have her here and we're fortunate that she is on her leadership Journey taking on multiple opportunities as she's developing her toolkit even after earning tenure in one of them so Matt thank you congratulations to you and your family um we look forward to working with you on your new role yeah that's it for my comments tonight um I see you in
037addition to you know the wonderful meals that we get as being board members for volunteer work we every now and then are blessed with a reading Homer yeah you know I was gonna get to that at some point uh Joe Feldman was here and um again having Jewel filming in person was um something uh Joe filmer's book is one that many Educators across the country are using and uh I have a copy for everyone um and you know if as I do it with my class and some of the folks will know this I don't assign particular chapters and sections to read we will talk about the book in this whole um and I look forward to your feedback if you if you know our high school has read this now and some other schools
038have taken us on as a community we read I've read it a few times if you do nothing more than just read the first couple of chapters that unpack the history of grading and why we grade the way in which we do and how the ways in which we've been grading traditionally over 100 years has contributed to the inequities we say we want to eradicate we graded this way for a reason in the past and that was to sort and select and to exclude and Joe in his book and on the stage this past week helps us understand how what we've done has been it's always been wrong and he presents a new approach to grading an assessment that will produce equity and access and better achievement results for everybody not just those who have
039been traditionally marginalized in our school so and again I'm not your filming but I think I did that better than he did on stage but anyway I'll do for you to receive this and I look forward to the conversations we'll have about the book I thought it was great that Dr Brown said I don't assign reading but make sure you read the first couple checks fantastic we will keep and what would be graded everybody get finished will there be a quiz I'm not greeting y'all let me be clear qualitative feedback our agenda we tabled at the reorganized organization I know some board members receive emails from us discussing advisory councils um at this point in time this is listed as a discussion item at any point in time we can move to do something that's
040much more concrete or make a plan to have things in place uh next week's agenda as well but you do see there are three possible advisory consoles listed below but I will step back and see if folks have suggestions recommendations comments they want to say anything about the establishment of any possible advisory councils for the 2324 Academic Year um my first draft effort on some of the thoughts I've been having about um we could call it climate change or environmental sustainability or a green Council or committee whatever we want to call it um and the additional one is some response to many of our conversations about mental health student mental health in the district and where we are and where we might be headed and what we should be doing about it so um I
041would I'm eager to see both of these Council slash committees in place in my draft I strongly recommended that they be put into place for one year and then reassessed after we take a look at the recommendations that we get from those committees um I have some really specific suggestions for possible community members as I'm sure others will of you will have when you think more about the charge to the committee but those what I propose they're a draft and I expect people to uh work them over and add what they what else they think is important and correct my grammar or whatever else needs to be done but I it's my experience that getting things out there for people to look at moves things along more quickly than just saying we should do this
042sometimes that's why I'm that's why it's there I only change the punctuation joke it wasn't because fair enough yeah additional thoughts questions additions I just I really appreciate that you took the time to do this because I should say it moves things along when somebody uh you know gets it going in this way and we have something specific to look at yeah so I guess you know based on Sean responded that we don't have a policy for establishing ad hoc committees we do have a policy for establishing advisory councils so looking at the draft you know would we just change uh ad hoc committee to advisory Council yeah I I didn't find anything that indicated that an advisory Council per se gave specifics about membership for example um the only specifics it gave was that
043the superintendent has full description to appoint people yeah and I would be certain that that would happen in collaboration with the board right yeah so I would certainly accept that as a friendly Amendment if we wanted to go forward with the drafts draft resolutions that I get either tonight or some other time to change ad hoc to advisory Council my suggested path moving forward would be for us to decide which of these we think something that we want to do to word Smith between now and next week and put them on the agenda for the special meeting for folks that are there um so we could get a committee established before the start of the academic year but it would give some time to do we would remove membership for example but write the charge
044and there were two I think your version of my version both overlapped around um mental well-being or advisor complements well-being um though my suggestion was that we also focus on um a suicide prevention I actually had and that was in mine as well on the same page yeah so we're we're going to adjust membership so that it's not a required since it's not a policy it's not a requirement for board members to participate in an advising elsewhere No in fact there's no requirement for that any board member participate in an advisory Council so all board members are open to volunteer and all board members are open to participate whether they've been appointed or not and um are we and I guess since it's going to the Superbook superintendent to do the review to just um
045assess and make sure what's current staff are involved in this because especially with the um is it the climate of the sustainability what is it called climate change advisory which is the sustainability group that we've heard of the goat we've heard of elementary schools doing things and all and so that there's consistency that we've connected with all parties involved just like with mental health well-being that we're connecting with the staff people involved and the mental health is a great one because there's a number of community and District folks who are already doing a numbering who have been doing this work for the past year and so what it would do is provide a space for the board get connected and to bring some other books in on the same page um so I would be
046in support of both of those uh I understand the need for legislative advocacy that may be a little bit more hectic but uh it's different it's an advisory concept and I'm looking at Eldred only because he was the last board member to serve on the legislative patterns you and Aaron together it's um okay so Benny Rosa had her whole executive staff speaking to miss the conference uh more in our book there and Sean it was the first time it seemed like they were us up there they were speaking our language um they were talking about kids first they were talking about Equity they were talking about qualitative and quantitative um um uh ways to view our kids and there are a lot of things that Albany is gonna have to push in order to support
047that so now might be the best time ever to have that committee up and running having said all that who's going to be down to take trips to Albany with me it's not something I can handle alone I would dare say that's the question behind Karen's question which is the division of labor and and what would he be doing with anyone these advisory councils is most likely adding additional work for board members many of us are going to be doing this work in different ways anyway so it'll just be a different way to go about it but it would mean additional meetings additional and I should also say that board members do not have to chair advisory councils it could be chaired by somebody outside of the board I would certainly make a pitch for
048having at least one board member on each advisory Council if not more because pragmatically I think we run a much better chance of getting recommendations that the board can actually turn into policy or practice rather than with people who don't know what what the boards um responsibilities are and whatever limits are and that is just just so folks know that's been our practice the past three advisory councils one was student code of conduct that was co-chaired by myself and Dr Ann Burns Thomas from SUNY Cortland the last one was early childhood development which I believe was co-chaired by Ann reichman and Eldred and local community folks and then we had another one that was on the capital Improvement project uh that was co-chaired by our board member and the Community member as well great so
049what they've historically been is co-chaired by one board member and a Community member or a staff personnel so I guess the dialogue or the question is do board members generally agree that Visa or advisory councils that we want to put on an agenda to take an actual vote on once we tighten the language put a resolution together the charge has already been set for each of them the policy does say that it doesn't need to have a charge and the Jill's point the policy says that they will only run for a single year I'll reach out to Aaron and see if she's going to do live come back to help lead the charge on let us say that I was having the same thought okay I think I could do it foreign and even before
050she ran for the board was doing significant legislative advocacy around the Gap elimination adjustment so I should also mention we have another huge advantage in that regard and tell us has already stepped up for Education Leah Webb's two main urban areas now are Binghamton and Ithaca so she's a state senator not now when yeah and sometimes they may even come to us I know we need to go to Albany but sometimes our religiously so unless I'm hearing objections from the board I'll work with individual board members to put together language around these three advisory councils again the superintendent will be in charge with help from board and from board members about what that could look like and we could sort of proceed from there well before we proceed I'd like a caveat that one of
051the board members is back in it so who will be run in with each of these like as we continue discussion via email and all right because I don't want it to go forth unless someone is back in it I agree I'll back uh Mental Health yeah I'm assuming you're gonna climate change sustainability unless someone wants us to fight yes it doesn't mean again other board members couldn't join on right right but you'd be agreeing to serve on that committee Adam if I'm understanding correctly right and you'd be an elder you'd be willing to serve on a legislative advocacy I'll try to get a format that is uniform for all of them put some language out there will be in contact and if it works then we'll put them on the agenda for next week
052to vote along with our Personnel report thank you all right and if there are any other additional feedback feel free to send it via email to all board members fantastic fantastic um uh the next item agenda item 12.2 um is a discussion of flying the harsh only flag along with the United States flag at District buildings um this is something uh that I brought to facilities we had a small conversation at facilities uh Jill had a great idea that this was a larger board conversation quick background we have a hard ass young student who approached me at the end of Social Justice League last this past spring appreciative of everything that we were saying but then also asking why we don't uh take actions that give meaning to our words and their ass was as
053a harshani student why if you're on my land as they were saying why aren't we plowing my flag I said I'd bring it to the board for discussion and conversation again it's listed as a discussion there's no action today it's just to bring it to the board your thoughts reactions directions things we should consider um anything of that nature I guess one question I would have is um and I mean I'm totally in favor of it but just a question I have would be the scope like would we have this lag any place we have an American flag uh and it's interesting there is not an American flag in this room I believe um and I noticed in Culp the other day we have the American flag in the New York State flag in color
054the student was specifically referring to Ithaca High School there was already a flag a second flagpole I think with the high school grounds that sometimes suit and sometimes but I think that's if they weren't willing to but I think the question you're asking more is for us to discuss that I haven't gotten down in that far I was looking at some of the legalities of it looking at some of as Albert and I been having some conversations about some of the um national uh the hawk 20 Nation internal politics um and what would that mean uh what what so there's a lot to be discussed but before even going down that path I wanted it on an agenda for her to get the fuel of the board if it's something that we should explore in
055more depth and I also need to respond back to the student because they have responded to me I I'll um I'll inhabit the ignorant person on this one and my first thought is I have a pet peeve against flag pollution uh every time I I look at City Hall I wince when I see all the flags flying there and I think when there were a bunch of flags mean nothing you know um and maybe my my personal preference would be no flags that I don't know my other thought was that if what we want to do is is honor the original inhabitants of this land one possibility would be some sort of plaque or you know monuments rather than a flag um but that's that's just an idea and I'm willing to be educated further
056on it I uh I do get nervous about one person asking for a flag that's gonna fly every day for the next however many years and use them that's my these are my disjointed thoughts on the matter any other board members thoughts reactions in the community now there's a hello it's on my check my check um in a lot of other places in the community the conversation has gone beyond token acknowledgment in the form of symbols right other conversations are now um trying to figure out what that means how will we support the members of that Nation who are still here right there are still living people here who are struggling and they've been questioning me in some of my other roles about you know basically keep your flags keep your speeches keep your your
057uh beginning of meetings unless you're actually planning to do something so that may be a viable conversation in addition to this inter-political tribal conflict what will it actually mean for us we are a massive institution this down there's a lot of weight a lot of resources will re-engage I should say in my other capacity that's that's in fact when we're at the college I've had a conversation with some of the local tribal leaders who were very clear uh if you want to do something uh their comment to me was uh give land back but we could do that and I think part of their idea was uh I think their idea was also sort of symbolic they didn't care what the land was but if you want to take an action what they were trying
058to stress on me as Ithaca College has been engaging in a land acknowledgment statement the eldest Point keep your statement give us some land back that was the that was the conversation that was a little deeper so again there's a lot here and I don't want us to spend the rest of our entire meeting having but I didn't know if this is something that the board would like for me to engage in more research or if this is something that's we're not even considering right I guess that's where it that's where it is I would appreciate more research just so we don't end up doing something performative so when they're saying actions like what can we do what are the actions at our disposal that would prove more meaningful what I understand some of the
059traditional hunting grounds were at the South Temple of beauty Lake and I've always wondered if we're sitting right where is it through the farm so more research for sure I hope it's not 112 First Street yeah um so I'll do more research one of the things that I will recommend and another capacity I mean uh the History Center uh Kurt Jordan a faculty member at Cornell University has just written uh an extremely informative book on the history of the harshund um and sort of has been granted uh approval by the local nation that it's a worthwhile book to read and that is a difficult thing to do uh so one of the things I can do is ask a History Center if all board members can get a copy of that book as well as
060part of our thinking about what to do more and I agree um I don't want to engage in anything that's performative um we all got too much time on our plate to do something at the same time if this is a student who's a member of that nation and that is their request there's way to that as well right and even if we memorialize it in fact you know we originally flew this flag at the right question you know an efficacy School District student you know who found a meeting and I think the student maybe it may have been a spokesperson right I don't think they were speaking as an individual I mean they were um and and even to acknowledge and commend this student for approaching you on behalf of the rest of us
061because it started with a group of students how we have um State Street renamed Dr Martin Luther King Jr so it may take one to Rally round to get the others so we have to validate this student for coming forth and to bring the awareness and where I'd like us to if we get in the book for the board members we need to get that on our list and within our school district and within the high school as part of our reading program just like how we started probably two years ago with the African-American studies Course and there are certain things that we need to update within our curriculum as we look forward to doing that so I commend this student for taking the Bold step to bring this to our attention I do know
062the book was read by the two teachers social teachers who came and presented to us um one that Dr Jordan comes into their class that they also signed that book as well um all right I think I have a path forward and do some more research look at the book we'll have some more conversations and if anyone else is doing any other research or seeing other school districts have done as well it'd be helpful for us to consider so if you see an eclipse come up um just make sure you send it is that a path forward fantastic um the next agenda item is a discussion of committee updates and structure uh we have done this over my I'm embarrassed to say over my 15 years on the board we have done this in a
063variety of different venues and approaches and mediums certainly times have changed since 2008 in terms of how we use technology but the idea is that not all board members attend all committees and yet still need to know the information that happened at the committee and most recently what we've been doing is once a month we would put committee updates on the agenda and the chair of the committee would provide the board and sometimes the community in this format of what were the major things that happened at the community we didn't know if that's the way in which the board wants to continue was that effective was it efficient are there other ways in which we may be able to share information our communication teams started putting out their own updates uh laughter as well which
064tried to capture and I think like a two-page document of what took place if that was helpful um but entertaining ideas about what folks think you may do or how best to make sure people get the information that happens at Community meetings above and beyond watching the video well it seemed to me last year didn't we at least sometimes um have half of the committee's report at one meeting and the other half reported another meeting yes uh which you know has a certain efficiency because if it's all the Committees it could uh take up a chunk of time yeah it was a half hour on our agenda easy we've also have you you've also had the executive staff come and present to the full board once we reach a certain level of critical mass in
065a particular committee about a particular item that's important like a finance update when you do right or an update on learning forward right women resources so maybe we're too early in the cement in the semester I'm already there this semester has started uh maybe we're too early to engage in this conversation and the idea would be for the time being that we continue having committee updates half and half as well as asking our communication team to continue to send out the summaries and we can always bring this question back up if folks find there's a more efficient way or a better way to share information because that's partly what it is a lot of information comes our way at a very fast pace and uh two committees have met recently last week human resources and
066policy um and in both cases all of the the members were in attendance uh so we elected a chair in each case thanks Jill um yes um and then just you know quickly in uh in policy where there were a bunch of policies we looked at and uh all of them need further work so our next meeting uh we will they will be bought brought back and uh so the full board won't be seeing them yet for a little while um and uh and then in HR uh kind of gave um uh Katie and yeah uh uh well Jill knew but Katie particularly um you know being new to it we kind of tried to give her an overview of what we do in in HR and our approaches to it and then uh both
067Katie and I had been at um the uh leadership and education event in Albany the previous week uh sponsored by nisbah so we gave a kind of update on some of the things that we had to do that were relevant to Human Resources particularly to uh issues of recruitment and retention um we did put our committee assignments um on the agenda as well those will be going out I'm sure folks will start asking now to updated the website already if not we will fantastic that and folks know um the board president is considered to be an ex-official member of all committees uh last year we did not do that because we were eight members and so I was on a couple of committees uh I would do my best to attend um as many committees
068as I possibly can that's my that's my promise but especially but especially that was hard to let go all right fantastic we'll move forward there keeping with our agenda we have three athletic mergers um to uh review um do we do folks need any information about how we engage in athletic mergers with other school districts do you feel that we're good fantastic so we'll entertain uh motion floor 12.4 okay uh motion to approve merger with Lansing Central School for Girls hockey ice hockey we don't have feelings second by Adam any discussion question I was saying we don't have field hockey which in my day that's what girls played uh all in favor unanimous Eldridge uh entertain motions for 12.5 motion to approve the athletic merger with Truman's for Central School District for Varsity wrestling for
069the 2023-24 school year second moved by Morris I can buy Katie uh questions discussion conversation yeah I don't know if anyone here knows this but how would that work would Truman spur would we go to Trumansburg or did they come to us they come to us because we're bigger or because it's our okay yep and uh they would be joining the Ithaca team and one of the policies that are in place uh of athletic merger happens but at no point in time does it displace any icsb student so it only happens when there's space for a team and oftentimes girls hockey is a great example we had needed to merge with other districts to be able to field the team right so but yeah but and then the modified we'll talk about um we don't
070usually have cuts at the modified level so that's why we do a merger at the modify them additional questions hearing none all in favor that passes University right and then um our last agenda item is uh 12.6 Montessori schools for uh 2023-24 school year for all modified programs grades seven and eight second uh moved by more second by Adam discussion questions yes I presume since you know Samantha has recommended this and looked at this thing um so that must mean that our modified programs aren't always overfilled if we're willing I'm actually yeah there's space um there's help we've done this one I think every year since I've been here oh I wasn't aware of that every year as well because of Staffing or Cuts in track and field this year there were a lot of
071guys for modified yeah for modify for modified excuse me uh is it coaches I don't wow I think if there was a lot of discussion a lot of people I don't have I don't have Clarity on exactly but I'm not sure if we did a merger last year for this particular sport I mean we've done it periodically yeah I gotta go back and check to see well I mean under the terms of the merger uh if there are going to be cuts it would have been an ICS no person no student from another school would be on the team in place of somebody right uh from Arsenal it may have been cut but it wouldn't have been a cut of an icsd student in a Montessori student's day exactly but I will confirm additional questions
072discussion their Cuts in soccer too modified yeah just the way now sure but it wouldn't I don't know it doesn't affect this but just so there's Clarity there are they're still cuts and modified yeah everyone's feelings of sports we get to theater and see well one point one time where their work cuts and modified sport a principal then took a group of students to um just continue that sport going on during that time Samantha's trying to look to look in like a like or mural options organizing other options for those so that they you know students they don't participate at various levels this makes me think of the issue with new routes um and is that right I mean that's also a public school could they do a merger with us and ask to be
073part of our athletic teams we had an answer to this and I don't want to miss quote uh attorneys um because this question has come up before about whether or not they could merge and if I'm not mistaken um I think the board would have to vote to allow for them to merge as well like we're doing here but I think it's technically possible okay but I'm for anyone who's listening at home we want to play back this tape I'm not certain in this case I don't need to check it's been a few years okay okay it's his own District yes so we'll follow up on that question hearing no other question discussion we'll call the question all in favor and that is federal including Albert and uh with that uh we have meetings coming
074up next week I hope board members um got what we're talking about between facilities and finance next Tuesday we will have a special voting meeting to keep our Personnel report moving and we'll add the advisory committees and it should be a very quick meeting for the special voting and with that um well let me add one of let me remind people that we're going to do a little tour or our beginning tour of facilities oh when did that of the district um your email today we're going to start on Saturday morning at nine you're being serious on a Saturday morning yes because we've got a lot of facilities I'm sure but that'll be after the tour um it will it's not going to be one tour it's we're going to have a whole bunch of
075them because we've got a lot of facilities okay um are we starting this Saturday yes I don't think we should oh exactly sorry oh I lost I lost tracks at the 19th facilities committee members to agree on if we're doing a weekend activity like this she's talking about talking about it uh would that would bring the meeting to a close we'll discuss that facilities thank you all for your time this evening uh we can't do it on Tuesday