May 21, 2026 KLSD Board of Education Meeting

001Good evening. Welcome to our board meeting. Tonight is uh Thursday, May 21st. Would somebody like to make a motion to return to public session? Motion by Carolyn, second by Bill. All those in favor? 7-0. Thank you. Would everyone please join me in rising for the Pledge of Allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. It has been an extremely busy month. I want to start board announcements tonight by talking to the community. I want to thank you for showing up on Tuesday night. It was a great turnout, over 2,800 town people from North Salem, Pound Ridge, Katonah, and Lewisboro showed up at our polls. And so we

002thank you. We thank you for the confidence that you've given the board to run these meetings, and we appreciate you showing up to tell us how you would like us to proceed. I'm proud that we are able to demonstrate to our children how democracy works. Although we do not uh vote to approve town or state budgets, we do vote on the school budget. And once again, Katonah Lewisboro residents showed up to support proposition one, our operating budget, which supports each and every activity that our children um go through. Thank you also to our election inspectors and district clerk for running um a great election. Everybody in each polling station is so friendly and by the even at the end of the day, you would think that they'd only been there an hour or so. So,

003thank you, especially in the heat of that day. Thank you also for approving proposition two. 10 years ago, a previous board had the amazing foresight to basically set up a savings account or a reserve fund for athletic infrastructure improvements for the future. We ask that you now stay tuned for some amazing additional activities that will be going around our campuses again. I think some just finished, but we're going to start again. It's all great. Um, and to and all of these activities actually will tie directly back to our pillars of light and support the health and well-being of all of our students. Next, I want to thank the towns for electing three trustees to the board. Bill and I are returning for a three-year term, so we thank you. Sorry for talking on your behalf.

004I'm sure. Um, Stacy, we welcome you to our table. Um, Stacy will be be fulfilling the remaining two years of John Paffenbarger's term. We wish John the the best of luck in his future endeavors. Stacy, we welcome here you here tonight. We are excited to have you join us, and I also want to say a special thank you to Nancy and Melissa for running. I appreciate your willingness to serve our community and hope to see you at our meetings in the future asking questions, and please consider running again. It is really one of the most fulfilling things that I do. Proposition three. 22 votes. I am sorry that this did not pass. We have dedicated a lot of time um, in the last three years directly and beyond that several years um, as a school

005board looking at this issue. We will be looking at UPK and LES again in the future. All I can ask is that our community tune in to our meetings and engage. It is what we are here for. LES has been such a special place to so many for so many years. So, stay tuned. We will come back with more information soon. Hudson, I want to congratulate you. I had the opportunity this week uh to attend the underclassmen awards. Were you up there three times? It was an amazing celebration of our underclassmen um where I was amazed at how many were there for academic awards, but we also see them on the stage in our orchestras, at our table, on our fields. Um so, it was a really electrifying morning and a great way to spend

006the morning after the election. Um but I understand that you would like to say something as well tonight. >> I mean, the the underclassmen awards ceremony uh it was a it was a great experience. Uh and there was just such a wide variety for everyone to recognize all the different achievements across the district. Um and I like what Dr. Siciliano said. He was like I mean, this isn't exactly how he said it, but it was it was somewhere along the lines of uh like what we celebrate like what we recognize as achievement is like who we are at like as a district. And I just think that was like really great to like show that we really recognize like all this all different types of achievement in our district. >> And what really struck me,

007Hudson, is the constant amount of applause for each child each student young adult that walked across that stage. It wasn't like a it was not a popularity contest. It was truly the kids really supported each other and it was happy for one student as the next and it was just really and then Dr. Siciliano they never going to keep coughing till they got up the stage and down. So, that was kind of a fun moment, but >> then your hands hurt a little in the end. >> But that's the amazing part of our student body is that the the love and support that we have they have for each other really shines through. >> At everything. I totally um I also want to say congratulations uh to Mrs. Gallagher and Mr. Schwarzfiger. Uh it's been

008a pleasure working with you guys this past year. I'm excited to continue. Also, congratulations to Ms. Isaacson. Your background sounds incredible and I'm really excited to continue the work next year. I also wanted to talk about proposition 3 failing. I don't think it's something that anyone in the district should be celebrating. We are setting ourselves back as a district and as a community and it really is deeply upsetting that we're restricting the education of 80 preschoolers this year and we're continuing to charge families 12 to 16,000 dollars. I don't think anyone should be happy about restricting children's educations. It's not who we are as a school district or as a community. We are going to move forward from it, but right now it it is really upsetting. >> Thank you, Hudson. Did I hear a

009glimmer of hope in there that you're returning to our board table? Um Anybody else have any board announcements? >> I do. Actually, last week on Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending orientation reception at PMW BOCES and I understand that it's an event that they used to host every year before COVID and then they had a break where they weren't hosting it and now they did it again and it was for all board trustees, superintendents, and local elected officials to learn more about the work that BOCES does and they had students from all different um programs there. They had someone from the art program that was literally painting these gorgeous paintings on the spot. Um they had students from you know, trades and culinary arts and it was really wonderful to hear the remarks of

010both current students as well as graduates and to hear all the different paths. Some students who were able to get college credit at BOCES and then go on to continuing college. Some kids who were able to um sign on to great union jobs right after coming out of BOCES. And so for me as a board member, it was really great to deepen my understanding of the different paths for every student that they provide. And I I was really proud that that we're a part of that. >> I also got to attend the Increase Miller Matilda performance on Wednesday, which was amazing. And a shout out to Miss Higgins and um the Increase Miller PT for for enabling that year after year. It's a really special tradition at Increase Miller for the fifth graders. Um I

011know my my son my last year participated in my little guy um you know is very excited for his year. And I really um every kid participates with such enthusiasm. I find that in theater to be such a um impressive feat. So, hats off to everybody over at Increase Miller. Miss Higgins in particular. >> I think a lot of elementary schools had their plays at So Middle Pond had Willy Wonka Jr. It was fantastic. Um and I believe KES had theirs as well. But I'm not 100% sure. >> I don't think so. >> Maybe they had their fourth grade one cuz I think they have a fourth grade play. And then for fifth grade they do the talent showcase. >> Right. >> I wanted to thank Mr. Swiatowicz and the administrative team at the middle

012school and so many administrators and board colleagues sitting at the table because we had 100% attendance at our middle school tour. >> It seems like a busy week >> It has been a busy week and it was wonderful to be back in the middle school. This was our last board tour of the school year. And thank you to so many middle school teachers for opening up their classrooms so that we could just get a very brief glimpse of the amazing work that's going on over there. It was really uplifting. And we saw a lot of amazing teacher practices in action and some really wonderful evidence of student learning. And also some of the beautiful work as a result of the bond that we are completing in the coming months. So, thank you. >> Yeah, that

013facts classroom was amazing. Really really well done. Anybody else want to ask? >> Um just a a brief announcement. It's not even huge, but in our consent agenda, we have some books listed lots of books listed um that we're getting rid of and I reached out to Julia to say, "Hey, I work with a charity league and we work with books for burrows." And true to our green ribbon spirit, she got right on making sure that we could take those books to kids who need those books. And there are a lot of books. And um like she could have easily said, uh "Well, we'll figure it out later." And we are making it happen. So. >> Well, I have a suburban, so if you need if you need some movement help, I'm right there with

014you. That's awesome. I love good book. It's great news cuz I know that's been a concern of our community in the past. >> It has. >> Yeah. And so this is a it's a good way to update our libraries and make sure that kids who can use them can use them. >> Thank you. Thanks for reaching out to her. >> Um I'm I'm very sad that this is going to be our last pillar tonight. I really enjoyed this, so I'll turn it over to you to present our last pillar. >> So, I'll go ahead and just again as you mentioned the learner centered leadership is our last pillar here tonight. So, I think Dr. Drake's going to go ahead and start us off. But, I do believe you have some folks who are going to

015kind of join us at the table tonight, I think, right? So, as those folks come up to the table, just as a reminder um as the board has provided us a opportunity last spring as we started this kind of process to have these types of conversations here at the board table. And so this allows us to have a just a fluidity of the conversation with sometimes our faculty, sometimes our students and things. So, again, I did want to thank you very much for allowing us to kind of give this a trial run. And I hope you will consider it allowing us to continue to do this in the future where, as we bring these pillars forward, our kids can help bring it to life with our staff. So, thank you, Dr. Drake. >> Thank you.

016I am so excited. This is a really nice way to complete our pillar presentations. I I wanted to share just again for the benefit of everyone what Dr. Blanche was referring to is our Vision 2030. There are many pillars and this is the last one, although it's the third, it's not We have more than three, but this one is learner-centered leadership. And the way that the whole presentation is designed follows the aspirations that are listed within our 2030 plan. So, that's the meaning behind the headings and all the information that we put within it. Um and it has It's such a nice um feeling to have this table now full with some people who are very special to me. So, before we get into the details of the presentation, I would love if you could

017introduce yourselves to the board, tell them either what grade you're in or what grade you teach. Um so, they just know who we have the pleasure of being with tonight. >> Uh good evening. My name is Jackie Russo. I'm a third grade teacher at Increase Miller. >> Hi, I'm Lily Parker and I'm a 10th grader here. >> Hi, I'm Marla Kulik and I'm a 10th grader. >> Hi, I'm Avery Portugal and I'm an 11th grader. >> Thank you. And Valerie, >> Hi, everyone. I'm Valerie McDonald and I'm an assistant principal at the high school. >> Um and I have had the benefit of engaging in leadership opportunities with everyone here at this table or hearing about the great work that they're doing in leadership and I'm really excited to give you the chance to hear

018from them as well. Um we're going to make our way through the presentation um and some of you see Ryla's photograph in the top right, she's speaking to Kerry Kennedy there. You'll hear about that in just a moment, but our unified basketball, our mentor programs, our safety team, there's countless ways that students are engaging in learner centered leadership in the district. And you can read the report in detail, but we're going to pick out a few points to highlight this evening. So, we start with student leadership development, and one of the first items under there is the student and superintendent advisory team. So, I wanted to give Dr. Blanche an opportunity to talk about that a little bit. >> Sure, this is a piece that we had started earlier this year. Uh it gives myself

019and Dr. Ceciliano an opportunity to meet with We have uh Hudson as kind of our student rep here from the board that's there with us, and then also we went through an opportunity for students to uh kind of apply to be a part of that. And so, we have another eight students to join us. And so, there's through that application process, students talk about their interests and provide a little bit of background. That's Those are all uh anonymous. Uh those students who come in, and there's We work with our counseling team to identify those children coming on board. The structure we've been using is uh Stephen Covey or Sean Covey, his his boy's uh seven habits of highly effective people to just walk through some of our structures. So, kind of on our uh last

020piece, we talked a little bit about sharpening the saw, and did a little bit of a focus group inside of there. And then we'll go ahead and do this approach next year with a new set of students. So, Hudson will go ahead and be joining us as there as well, too, representing our student council leadership team. So, I don't know if there's any thoughts or things you would uh share about our our work together on this. >> Yeah, uh Dr. Blanche, I don't think you're you're selling it as good as it really is. >> I know, we'll get you pizza. I got it. >> You didn't even get me pizza. >> Learner centered leadership so I have the power. >> Um no, it really is a great opportunity. Um all the work that we did

021this year, it came like from us students, like what we recognized as like a gap in our district. Um and for us, that was that there's no like academic support center right now at the high school. Um like with block scheduling also like that there was like a gap that happened um with not getting enough time to communicate with your teachers with the PLC time uh and not having enough like like resource like extra help time. And this like kind of came through like a lot of the discussion that we did uh and then we kind of worked like as the advisory team with Dr. Blanche and Dr. Siciliano on like looking at creating like a student academic support center. I'm not sure what the name will be but uh just like a a chance

022for students to both like have time with their teachers um and a teacher like uh during possibly the lunch period during the day um to go into like an area dedicated for this to be able to talk to them. Uh and then the second part uh is also more learner-centered leadership with students being upperclassmen being able to tutor um some younger students and giving uh volunteer hour opportunities but also like a chance uh to learn from like an upperclassman who's taken the class that you're in right now. Um and all the work came from like what we what we saw as a a gap in our district. Um and Dr. Blanche and Dr. Siciliano both been like very supportive um of everything that we noticed. Thank you, Wilson. >> Thank you. The high school's had

023a number of leadership opportunities. That's a wonderful example. Another one you'll see is the Westchester County Youth Leadership Conference. About six high school students went there and the theme was be the difference preventing peer conflict in and out of school. A wonderful message that they were able to um bring back to the high school and help spread. And we also have examples of learner-centered leadership as young as the elementary school. And during our tenure um presentation earlier this spring, I had the benefit of stopping by Jackie's table to hear about the great work she's doing with her students in elementary school helping them develop their own leadership. Will you tell us a little bit about your project, please? >> Sure. So, I wanted students to take an active role in their learning so I empowered

024them to become student leaders. Um some of the goals of the project were to build a class a positive classroom culture where students felt comfortable and safe sharing their ideas with the class. I wanted them to take on active roles as math leaders leading the classroom discussions. Um, students I wanted them to be more confident in explaining their thinking and helping others to learn. Um, this supported the vision through the pillar of learner centered leadership, but also the pillar of belonging. Um, so I started with students completed a confidence survey uh weekly for 6 weeks to track their confidence being a student leader. So, they were asked questions, how do you feel about explaining math problems at the board? How do you feel answering questions um from your classmates at the board? And so, you

025can see over here I tracked the data and there was a significant difference from week 1 to week 6 in their confidence levels. So, beginning in week 1 there are three students that were not confident at all and already by week three there were zero students feeling not confident. So, it was amazing to see the numbers grow each week. Um, students gained confidence. They started building on the ideas of others in the classroom. There was increased accountable talk during conversations. They were critiquing each other respectfully. They were supporting each other as the leader and this um became a routine and carried over to other subjects as well. Um, students were also asked in that survey, what can your classmates do to um or your teacher do to help you feel more confident? And so, some

026of the responses were don't talk over me, praise and encourage me, eye contact, um listen to me, be patient. And so, this helped us really reflect on the classroom rules and routines and the students held each other accountable and we really built a positive classroom environment where students could make mistakes and not feel judged, and we created a classroom conference constitution for our rules. And the students did a remarkable job. The experience really reinforced my belief in the power of learner-centered practice, and when students are really given that meaningful opportunity to lead, they really take it and rise to the occasion, growing in their confidence, their skills, and empathy. And as educators, our role is to create conditions for this growth, supporting our students as they become not only better learners, but also thoughtful, capable

027leaders in their own right. It was a wonderful experience, and they really did an amazing job. >> Thank you, Jackie. That's a beautiful gift that you gave them that will help in their entire life. I really appreciate it. And the way that you collected the data is also so impactful, and you demonstrate true growth. So, I think the district's very lucky to have you, and we're excited you'll be being recommended for 10 years since. So, wonderful job. Thank you. All right, ladies. I'm going to put you on the spot next, but not before a video. Rich, if you don't if you can hear me, can you put a snapshot of the video featuring the work that we got to do together. Can you raise the volume? >> generation of leaders takes center stage at Manhattanville

028University. High school girls from across the Hudson Valley are showcasing their projects on human rights, mental health, and environmental change. Kerry Kennedy, human rights activist and niece of former US President John F. Kennedy, spoke at the summit. Her mother, Ethel Kennedy, is a Manhattanville alumni. The goal is to inspire young women to create positive change in their communities. >> So, that gives you a little bit of background of how we got started, and I'd say that it's been over a year that we've been together. Um, Dr. Almost Dr. Miss McDonald. Mallory and I joined the girls last spring at Manhattanville for the inaugural kickoff, the very first one. It was truly inspirational. There were a number of other districts present from around the county. We examined both the Declaration of Human Rights and the UN

029Sustainable Development Goals and we looked for kind of gaps that connected to our values and considered, with help from the Kennedy Center for Human Rights, the best way to make a difference in the world. How to how to advocate and and how to inspire change. You also have the privilege of meeting girls from other districts that you might not have otherwise interacted with. And throughout this experience they have so thoroughly impressed me. So I'm really glad that their families are here to hear about this. So and Avery's mom was at the at the exhibition with us, so she did too. So I'll ask each of you to speak in a moment just about the projects that you that you did and the impact it had on you and your continued work because they all want

030to continue, which I'm really excited about. I'm wearing and I often wear the bracelet from Avery's, which inspired girls in sports. I have the axolotl from Lily and the the compact, which I stole from my daughter cuz I gave it to her after the session, which I'll tell you about. And Riley continues to impress me with her project and I can't wait to help that grow as well. So without any further ado, would any of you like to begin? >> They also have little posters as well. >> Thank you. Yeah, oh perfect. So they each had a trifold that they presented at the final exhibition, which was just this past April. Um And Miss Piccolino helped us this year as the advisor. Um Mallory helped last year and will continue um, because it's a partnership

031between the doctoral program at Manhattanville, which is how I'm connected, um, and Kennedy Center. So. All right, here we go. Avery. >> Hi. Um, I'm Avery. Um, my project was focused in girls in sports and getting young girls involved in high school sports as they move from the middle school to the high school. Um, we did this by heading down to the middle school one day in February and my friends and I who are all captains of their sports teams, um, we set up a table in the middle school cafeteria and we had a spinning wheel um, and any kids could come up, spin the wheel and either get a bracelet that read girls in sports or they could get a piece of candy and we talked to them about the opportunities that the high

032school offers for sports and how they can get involved in athletics. And we also had flyers that listed links to clinics in our community so that they could sign up and know what's going on. Um, and I did this because a lot of girls quit their sports as they move into high school. Um, it's really hard sometimes for girls to find a place where they feel like they belong because as girls grow up, they lose confidence and as girls move into high school, things socially change and it's very hard to find a place where you belong and a sports team is a great community and it's sometimes girls don't they the sports team seem too competitive in the high school for them to look more like a community. So, we worked together to ensure girls

033that it would be a safe space for them and we wanted to encourage them to participate more as they moved into the high school. >> And what sports do you play? >> I play flag football. >> Did were you able to participate yet in the Be Well, Play Well? >> Um, I have yeah, I'm going to try to get involved in that next year, but this year I just was more focused on this project for now, but yeah. >> No, I just just wondering and you been involved yet in the um, Girls in Sports Day? >> I have yes, this is my first year getting involved. >> Yeah, Coach Walsh started that a few years ago and it's a really fantastic event. Well, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Were you an athlete in middle

034school? >> Uh yes, so I did club sports in middle school. I did club rowing for 7 years outside of school. And then that's kind of what inspired me to start this project. Um this year I quit rowing um cuz I also just didn't feel like I had that sense of community. And I didn't want other girls to feel the same way. And as I joined flag football at the school, it made me realize that the main thing that kept me in athletics all my life was the team and the team environment. And I didn't want other girls to feel alone in that. And so, yeah. >> That's exciting. >> Thank you. >> And I got that Manhattanville It's weird to call it university. Sorry, I went to It was It was a college. I'm

035not going to date Well, it's only just I'm not dating myself that much. But actually I So I'm an alum in Manhattanville and when I was there um President Savage taught in her office, so up above the room that you were in, a Women in Leadership seminar. And so I'm glad that they're bringing back this women movement um to develop leadership because as you say it is it's difficult. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> All right, this is Lilly's project. Lilly? >> Sorry, is this keying us Okay. Um so I did a project on self-talk and how that can really impact, you know, what your mindset is in life and your ability to be successful. So unlike Avery, I didn't do um a get-together project, but I'd be definitely looking forward to doing something like that

036similarly. And I'll talk a little bit more about that uh later. But I kind of was looking a lot at the impact of affirmations and like what that really means because a lot of the time media portrays positive affirmations as something silly like you are beautiful, you are brave and that doesn't really make an impact on you even if you repeat it every day in the mirror, you might not actually think that. What I realized is that in order for something to truly resonate within you and to project that and understand and like have that within you, you have to be passionate about the affirmation you might be stating. Um Dr. Eric had uh that positive axolotl and the mirror. So yeah, so at this activity I had um Ms. McDonald and I were talking

037about it. I had people write down something they would say uh that is kind to uplift a friend who's going through a tough time and then with that sticker that you've just written on, place it on the base of a mirror and repeat that to yourself because you should be treating yourself as you would treat a friend because you should not be uh unkind to yourself because you are the only person that will be with you throughout your entire existence. So you better like like yourself a bit or treat yourself with kindness. Um the axolotl, it's a very small font but it says I may be a tiny axolotl but I believe in you, go do your thing and I think that these physical reminders, I also handed out potatoes that said the same thing.

038Um these physical reminders serve to help us remember to be positive or to know that you are a good person uh when your mind is failing you because a lot of the time you have to like I gave an analogy that was you have to work the brain as if it is a muscle because you can't get abs after doing one plank one time. That'd be great but you can't do that so you have to continually use these positive words or positive activities and celebrate the small things in life in order to actually see change within a few weeks, months, years. And I think that this is really, really impactful, especially for young women and girls because um I talked to a few young girls that came to the table. There was them on an

039Instagram post. There are a couple pictures of me with them. And when I asked them to write something down they would say to a friend or even to themselves, the comments were more be fierce or you are amazing, stuff like that. Nobody ever thought about anything negative. And so I think that implementing this positive mindset really early on before they even know what negative self-talk is is definitely very powerful. So I'd love to look at doing something like a project within the elementary schools to definitely cuz I think you had definitely a really successful project cuz they're more open-minded and willing to learn these different tactics. And so I think exploring methods of positive self-talk that aren't like considered silly. I think that could definitely be really helpful and it really I think made a

040difference to have these physical reminders because a lot of people took it away and as you said like your daughters really enjoyed and saw it and thought it was a really cool. So I think um especially the moms of the young girls that I talked to, they thanked me afterward for presenting on this because it's not a topic many people speak about uh because it is written off a lot. Um but it I think it is a really powerful thing to address and my poster has really small text on it, but there are some brilliant quotes from the Yale Happiness Lab and it's really like to summarize some of these, the enemy, your biggest enemy should not be within your own head. You need to be your biggest supporter. So it's building that up and

041that's really what I would like to continue working on and what I found to be really impactful cuz a lot of women afterward again thanked me for talking about it because it's uh almost unspoken about. So yeah, I had a great time and it was lovely to speak to all these like um like-minded women and I thought it was just really impactful and powerful. So if you have any questions about it, thank you. >> I do. Do you have any thoughts on what your career path might look like? >> No idea, I'll tell you that. But, I spread it out. I do a lot of different extracurriculars just to see like what I'm going to be interested in, but I think I'm always changing, which is why having a constant something like this to bring

042yourself back to this place. I think that's really powerful cuz as long as I'm happy in myself and in my personality, my everything, um I think I'll be successful whatever I try to pursue because >> Yeah, cuz I can see you can there's so much that you can do with that. So, I was just interested if you had started this with a thought of something in mind. >> Well, I would definitely like even if this doesn't end up being something I pursue my career, I would definitely like to continue working on things like this because I think since it is unspoken about typically, I think talking about it with a wide range of audiences I think that could be amazing because I think this is very easy to like reframe for different types of audiences

043to like older women, younger women, men, everybody deserves to hear this, I think. And so, that's why I think it can be like very scalable and something that I would definitely look forward to maybe talking to other people about and figuring out where we can have these presentations just to understand it better cuz the understanding part is very important. >> I see an app in your future. I think this is amazing. >> Well, I was talking about if I had more time I could do one of those, you know, the Bible app how it comes up on your phone. I think that'd be pretty powerful with an affirmation or something similar. I not to compare it to Christianity, but yeah. That's I mean, you you do have to subscribe to it like religion, I guess,

044but >> And and that's a nice um precursor like segue to Ryla's project um with app and web-based creations, but all three of these young women did a really great job at the at the culminating exhibition in front of a really diverse audience. As you said, it was parents, it was professors from Manhattanville. Kerry Kennedy herself went to each of their stations and the overwhelming feedback I received, while I was like a proud mom taking a thousand pictures, was like, "They've got to talk to your board." And I was like, "I'm sure they would This is the perfect opportunity." Um but um I also think that some of our biggest learning happened in the very beginning where we got to hear a little bit about the experiences of people from people in districts that are

045not like ours. Where I remember I I we had a really crazy sports conversation with another district that didn't even have I think enough equipment to run a track team. And it was really eye-opening for our group. Um and so that kind of even further motivated our work. So, Ryla, last but certainly not least, can you please share about Project Meridian? >> Hi, my name is Ryla Cruik and I am the creator of the Meridian Society. Um so, I'm sure all of you have really established careers, obviously, you're sitting here. Um so, I'm also sure that you know how important networking is. If you look at jobs, most jobs are placed by networking. Most promotions are done by networking. And if you take that statistic and you also look at the ratio of women in

046the workforce and men in the workforce, which is at this point really similar, but then if you also look at the ratio of women at the top to men at the top, that ratio is is really significantly different. So, if you think about networking, the first thing that comes to a lot of people mi- people's minds is golfing. And I apologize if you're a big golfer, but why are we always golfing? It's it's male-dominated. It's it's a male industry. You know, everything's very masculine in networking. So, I think it's important to start networking early and start networking in a different way. So, I created the Meridian Society and if any of you have ever been in a sorority, you'll know about a big little program. And my system sort of mirrors that, where you have

047people college aged or above who are the bigs, who have careers, who have connections, who have already gone through phases in life that younger girls, who are the littles, are currently trying to go through. So, on this website there are three main functions, and the first is a general board. Think of a Reddit-style situation, where any older mentor can post an opportunity, a fact, or an internship that they're looking for, if they're looking for younger girls. They can post that right on the site. And then younger girls, littles, can click on that post and go to their go to that woman's profile, see their career, ask them questions, all on the website. The second function is careers. And this is geared towards younger girls, but it can really apply anywhere, where different careers look differently

048for men and women. If you're looking to go into the construction business, and you're wondering, "Hey, how is how is the situation at this specific company?" Or or what do you what is the biggest challenges you face as a woman woman? So, any little can ask any question in that in that sphere. If you see over there, it's under career questions, it's small up there, but there's a bunch of different little buttons, and each of them are a different career. There's one in education, there's one in business, etc. So, you click on the the area you're interested in, ask a question, and then a big a mentor would respond. And the last is college. So, you can go into different colleges, and there's lots of college rating websites, of course. Um but this one's really

049geared towards women, and how a woman's experience is shaped at a college. So, whether there's sexism, how are the sports, how are women in sports? What is the what do the professors look like? Have you faced any major challenges at the college? So, there's ratings on safety, there's ratings on sexism, there's ratings on just general happiness and and almost the vibe at the school. And so, anyone who's gone to that college can post. So, I created this website to be a safe space for women of all ages to begin networking, to start networking events, and to really just have a community of career-oriented women around them from a very young age. >> Yes. >> How do I sign up for this? >> I can answer that This is uh >> I wish you were around

050when I started my career 30 years ago. Um Wow. >> Yeah. >> And I I should add that they've done all of these projects on their free time because this isn't a class. It was like an extracurricular. Um so, even more credit to you for that. >> Yeah. >> I'm I'm speechless. I I'm just incredibly impressed by you three young ladies' parents. Um thank you for all the support you've given them. I'm not going to give them credit for what you guys have used your own intelligence for, but your parents do support you. So, thank But I I'm speechless. Our Our education system is working here. >> Thank you. And um I'm really excited that everyone's going to continue with us next year and as we continue to grow the the project, I'm taking on

051a leadership role from the doctoral program side, and um we already have over like 10 districts expressing interest that we're going to have to turn people away. Um and we are people who have experienced the program will take on a bit of a mentoring role to the new uh girls that will be joining. So, super excited that we can represent in this way. >> And they're all under classmen. It's not even like Yeah. >> What a gift to our school district. Thank you for bringing this program here, and thank you for providing the scaffolding and support so that we can be part of this program. I hear you that now we have to turn other districts away potentially when you're in this leadership role for the program, which is you know, incredible. So, congratulations and

052thank you. But, um fantastic. Can you each comment maybe just briefly on how you found your way to this program? You know, what What was the tipping point for you where you sort of said to yourself like, "Hmm, maybe I'm going to give that a try." Sort of recruitment aspect of it. How did you get recruited for this? How did you decide to do it? >> Um well, I was lucky enough to be handpicked. Yeah, that kind of came to me, but I'm I was very, very excited at this opportunity. Um I try to take on as many opportunities as I can, uh especially since I'm not sure what kind of career I want to do, but it definitely sounded like a really interesting program to me, especially working closely with Kerry Kennedy and speaking

053with her and her dog we saw. Also, she got quite quite a few sneaky pics. But, um I think working with all these like-minded young women, like at the first conference last year, I just remember thinking like, "Wow, this is insane because we're three girls at this school, and we're not like every single other girl here. And so, I think it's really powerful to talk to other girls who have similar interests and are interested in leadership opportunities. So, I think that talking about this kind of thing and actually like being treated as if we are like active participants in society, that's really powerful. And I think that really made an impact on me, and I really wanted to do this project. It wasn't like someone was forcing me to do something like this. I really

054wanted to spread this positive um kind of mantra, and I think it was really powerful. And I don't know about you guys, but I'm just really glad I got to be part of this program, and I'm really looking forward to being like taking on a bit of a mentorship role uh because that's even furthering the leadership opportunities within this um program. So, yeah, that's is really awesome. So. >> Yeah, I completely agree with Lily, and this was a really incredible experience. Um yeah, like her, I was I was picked for the program, um but I had a lot of different ideas of of what the project I want to do. And my mom was going to get embarrassed by this, but the reason I settled on this project is my mom was in business and

055I've heard for my whole life you know, her experience and that she's a part of a lot of women's leadership groups, which is awesome. But she came home one night from a networking event with all of her co-workers. And it was a room full of all men and they brought her to a hookah lounge. And this was the whole experience and she was talking about, you know, it was it was awkward, it was overwhelming. It just like wasn't a conducive experience for her to further business strategies. And so I want to go into business one day. I would hate to have that be the situation for me and I think women need to to bond together more and really form a network of our own. And so that's kind of how I came across my

056project. But I mean this summit is the only reason why I would have done it in the first place. So it was a really incredible experience to have so many people supporting you and really wanting to hear what you have to say. >> Bryla, that's something that a lot of women experience in one way or another in the workplace. So thank you for doing that and sort of getting ahead of it for for the next generation. >> I was also picked for this project. I was picked a little bit late though. They began the project last spring and this September Miss Picolino asked me to join just to see if it was something I thought I could benefit from. And I I went on that first summit day and I had a little bit of

057trouble picking what I wanted to do. And I settled on something that I thought it was kind of a mix of the three of our projects. It was more focused on the mental health aspect of sports because that's more what I want to do in my career. And then as after that summit as time went on and I stopped doing rowing, I realized that there was a lot of girls who the same way because as I talked to my teammates they all felt similar to me and I was the only one who was bold enough to actually stop and say I'm not happy here. And it inspired me to sort of make sure other girls aren't going to feel the same way cuz it was a hard feeling to go through and it was it

058it made me stronger and it inspired me to do this project but yeah. >> Well said. I'm glad you stuck with it. Can you share a little bit about how we're thinking of the next cohort? >> Yes, yes, yes. So typically what we do is we we meet with our entire counseling team. As you know, they take very good care of getting to know our students very well and understanding you know, what their interests are and what they're thinking about or and whether they're very like like social like active there's focus and and so on and we and we kind of go from there. So they we provide them with a description of the the project. So when this came up two years ago we reached out to them and we said, "Listen, we have

059an opportunity. Um can you please meet as a team and share with us a list of students that we might want to look at?" Then we met as an administrative team and kind of went through the list and and continued that discussion. And then we started reaching out to students to see who was interested. So that's that's how we kind of determined who would be part of our group. And then the same process that we followed this year as well. So we are very excited for our cohort of ladies for next year. We do always try to have a variety of grades represented because we don't we certainly don't want them all to be seniors, we don't want them all to be freshman, we want them to be a representative group of our school. And

060this is just such an incredible experience for our students and we are very lucky that we are able to bring kids back because we weren't sure that that was going to be an option this year. So, thank you for that. Little insider Yes. Yes. Yes. But But yes, this has been such an incredible opportunity for our kids and and really I mean for all of us you know even the adults that have been in the room it's such an eye-opening and incredible experience for for everyone. >> I mean I will say that it's an incredible opportunity for all of us to be here and to see the work that you girls are putting in. I will say that each the three of you have each uncovered a different part of of for lack of better

061word the struggle of being a woman in this world and I I am so honored that you guys are able to articulate that the way that you do and to resonate with it and I mean more power to you. I am just so happy to see what you three achieve really I am. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Yes, thank you so much. It's cool to be here with all of you too. >> And Lily when I feel negative thoughts creeping into my head I will think of you. So, thank you. >> Yeah. Yeah, I will. It really does make a difference. I'll tell you that I think. >> You know there there is an app so I don't want to take that away from you but I >> Dang it. Really? >> It's called

062I Am, right? And it is when you said it before it it reminded me that this I'm a little bit older than you. We're not going >> Like a couple years. >> But I think there was like a time period where we there was a skit on Saturday Night Live where they actually made fun of positive affirmations, right? And I think that we are starting to now come back and understand how important it is. So, to see somebody your age really understand the power of that, >> Mhm. >> I mean, we are going far because it was really something that was made fun of, but it has come a long way, and I try to tell my daughter now, like you have to talk positive to yourself about that, and she's like, But, to see

063you embracing that at this age, I I there's nothing but positive things. >> Yeah, definitely. That's what I was talking about earlier with the media kind of representing it in a negative light. >> Yeah. >> And I think that's just further reinforcing like social like pushback and trying to force women into a box that is just that's not going to fit a proper personality. Like I think it's it is really powerful to talk about it, and I think that it's kind of crazy that people have rejected it for so long, and I think it's just make basically since it's it can be conceived as like sort of a coping mechanism also to like know like in your heart you are like a good person or to know the things that you love about yourself. And

064so, I think that when that's portrayed so negatively, it's also just rejecting how people like are treating themselves. So, I really like that example, but that's definitely something that I was targeting in my conversation um because it's a lot of pushback on women, and I think it's just disgusting. >> And of course, selection has already happened, but all of you from various things you've said seem like you might really enjoy the class on psychology that Mrs. G teaches, and I >> It's a good class. >> something that's in your future for next year. >> psychology this year. >> Wonderful. >> a great class. I loved it. I'm taking it. >> Better said than I could. Thank you. >> Yeah, I'm taking it next year. I'm very excited. So, it's going to be awesome. >> Oh,

065that's awesome. It's a great class. My daughter actually um just graduated with a psychology major and is going um for her master's in human and sports performance, and a lot from what she learned in that class started here. So, it's um it's nice that um so much of what our education does helps them decide what they want to do in the future. >> And starting as young as third grade, thanks again. >> Yeah, the third grade aspects, you know, should not be overlooked that third graders can you know, they you can have them relate to, you know, on a scale, you know, how am I feeling and where is my confidence? And for them to come that far, I can't wait to see them in a couple years sitting at the table in front of

066us. And I'm really excited to watch what these young ladies do in the next couple years. >> And for making it these um skills so explicit, you know, I know that's not really, I don't think in the standards. Maybe it's part of the SEL standards, so I'm sorry, perhaps it is, but I think the intentionality of really making explicit how are you feeling about these exercises and and charting the change, you know, surveying the kids so early on, that's such a respectful thing to do, you know, to to to invite their self-reflection and then to be able to chart that over time. Like, yeah, thank you for bringing us back around to the third grade presentation. That's really something. So, thank you for that. And and that's really going to help, hopefully, to bring about

067more and more students who have the power of self-reflection and advocacy that we're seeing here tonight. It's really incredible. >> Maybe I hear a leadership class in the future in our curriculum. >> Just just to um add to this, what we saw some other districts do is even though they could only send a small group of students, they actually develop clubs around young women's leadership. So, if um I I mean, that's something that I'm kind of thinking about for the next year or the years coming because you know, unfortunately, we can't bring 15 or 20 or more uh young ladies to uh to Hannibal University. So, um we do have a lot of potential of of really developing this into something. >> I think even on leadership costs overall for I mean yes at the

068higher level I've dealt with it in my career. Um but there's also men that can And I think women and I think if we have a class that men and women are working together at a young age that respect develops and then it will translate into careers later on where it's not being so difficult for women to get ahead where a man could be like oh well I worked with her in high school and we developed this leadership together. That's that would be a really nice world. >> I I had one follow-up question and I forgot. Are any of you three in touch with some of the other girls that you met in the program from other districts? >> I'm >> Oh yeah yeah. >> Um I have a few of them on Instagram and

069stuff and I think we've had a couple messages but it's not really like uh built up connection but I would definitely look forward to like talking to them again. I think it's just important a lot of them are also like student athletes so I have run into a lot of them at like track meets and things like that. So we talk about like how our we talked about how our projects were going and stuff like that. So I think it's like a lot of the similar people uh that we're seeing but also people from far away districts that I wouldn't normally get the opportunity to talk to. So even if I get to talk to them for like a small span of time I think it's still like is impactful and interesting because I love

070talking to new people but yeah I have messaged a few of them and I have uh liked their Instagram posts and stuff so >> No that's great. >> I mean even that small connection on the on the track field is it's something. Seeing a recognizable face out there is cool. >> Yeah there was something we didn't anticipate. They were all swapping That but and we changed the That was two years ago but we since changed the model so it'll be a one-year cohort September launch April exhibition. So there'll be a chance to have >> They only do join the the Meridian >> Meridian >> We'll we'll we'll continue on the presentation quickly. Um although there's a lot more there you can take a a look at and you'll see we saw Ryla's picture earlier. There's

071other pictures featuring all of the um women and I think every we even have one from your um girls in sports day. And so we've talked a little bit about elementary and high. I want to feature something at the middle school, their ambassador program. >> And you'll see that reference in the next section about leadership opportunities. Um and there it's a an organi- it's a initiative that they started where 30 students were selected through an application process that represent grade level teams and special areas like including music, world language, and PE. And they serve on this council, a student council. They meet regularly with teachers and admin. They collaborate monthly with the parent-teacher organization. And they pick they highlight an element of the 2030 profile of a learner and provide feedback on lessons and activities

072that they experience. They help plan school initiatives. Um and so this year they focus on curious and skilled thinkers. They defined what that trait meant to them, exploring what it looks like, sounds like, feels like within the classroom and the community. And the next phase is that they're going to go into the rooms and try to identify this um in action. Uh so really and and then highlight their findings with their teams, which is pretty uh incredible of an example of fostering leadership at the middle school. Wanted to make sure I mentioned that. And then um we have under collaborative learning environments as well. We've I shared with you at the sustainability presentation a video that was made um in conjunction with um the art and music film project that they did there, which is

073another example of collaborative learning environments. Um and the civil rights project we've also spoken about. The um there's a PBL with environmental physics and health that was really exciting. Seniors in the environmental physics class and class and health class examined the climate impact of food systems together. Um we'll flip to uh empowerment through choice, which is on the upper right-hand side. Um you'll see the firefighter simulation listed as first there. It's like experiences that we're providing students that will open their eyes to opportunities they might not otherwise have known. It was fun one, right? >> Yeah, got the T-shirt. >> And people were overheard saying like "Wow, I never knew this was something I could do. I want to try that." So giving exposing and this is like connects to our literacy initiative in the

074elementary school, knowledge building and mirrors and windows and sliding glass doors to try to help um give people uh students in our district a really wide variety of things to think about. Um and so Rich, if if you're still there, can you play the video? Um another empowerment through choice was student a student composed piece performed by the high school orchestra. One of you wrote last night. Yeah, wrote a and composed a piece of this that the orchestra performed. So Ty, >> And he was here. >> Yeah. Here is the recording of the students playing it. >> That was really a wonderful example. Again, empowerment through choice. Um and we're grateful to have such a a talented musician in our district. >> Did he say in middle school he'd already been composing for a few

075years? Did I Did I read that right? >> I think we'll be hearing from him as well in the future. >> As someone who's in the orchestra that the video didn't even capture, it's a really incredible piece and he's he's really talented. >> Yeah, could you like >> Wow. >> I couldn't believe that he could do that. >> Oh, yeah. He's been conducting since middle school and his improvement has been really really great. And Ms. Seven Doll was great and her her fostering of that. >> That's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Um we have other uh programs across PE. I got to witness some and I put some of this um in our update about the self-selected fitness programs that all students can engage in and with our new uh bond and the enhancements to

076make it more ADA accessible, it's only going to grow. So, there um is really also taking down barriers or traditional um things that might prohibit or inhibit someone from wanting to walk into a gym and work out. They're making it really accessible um and a lot of choice-based uh it um opportunities there as well. Real-world applications, we'll just going to um go through some of the experiences students are having. So, our seniors are on internships right now and Vicki Weiss, the advisor there, shared with me all the different companies that are current and programs or institutions like schools and districts that are hosting our students and they're in fields like education and youth development, health, wellness, and mental health, arts, culture, and creative expression. Really, there's a very strong local and regional identity piece in

077some of the organizations that students are partnered with, athletics, performance, recreation, environment, nature oriented organizations and community partnerships. So, some beautiful opportunities there through the internship program. Our robotics team ranked so highly in the world for their robotics skills also has an element of mandatory community service and part of our interview of them recently involved them having to tell us and this is in the competitions too, like how they help provide community service and they've gone to elementary schools and they talk to the LEGO teams and they um try to build enthusiasm around robotics as well. Um and let's see. So, oh okay. So, now we're coming towards the end and I cannot help myself. I we Avery, your picture is down there the varsity athletes leading the athletic leadership summit. Um and also we

078reference the elementary buddy classes, some beautiful partnerships there between the classes helping the children build their communication skills and confidence. There's Reach Out John Jay and the mentoring program that our students provide for one another. We have Hudson as our as our volunteer god. And Hudson, there's a great picture of you talking with the students at Katonah about leadership. Can you tell us a little bit about that? >> Yeah, so I've actually had the opportunity opportunity to go down to all the elementary school classes and the middle school this year. Uh I'm actually doubling up now on on some of the ones I did earlier this year. It's been really incredible. I got to meet at Katonah. It was about 30 of the the fifth grade student leaders and I talked to them about their

079experiences, why they're leaders and what they're doing as leaders and it all came back to like like the why and what like inspired them to become it. Um and I was able to share a little bit about my experience as a leader and how that's like developed throughout my time and to get them excited and want to continue leadership in the middle school and to know that there's so many more opportunities that come after elementary school after Katonah and and it'll elementary school, I'm just showing that it really does continue. Um, and there is just so many opportunities and you just have to get involved right away. It's It's just really amazing. >> Thank you, Hudson. And, um, I'm just I think the next thing I'm going to share is a beautiful combination to everything

080that everybody has shared today. So, the final video is a video, um, I shot from the unified basketball game that we went to. And I think it really highlights mentorship and and um, fostering student leadership. You'll see the students were partnered, um, they had their students with special needs were partnered with their peers to play a game and the entire district came out to support them. So, we'll we'll end with this uh, video that I think depicts, um, all of the things that we've been talking about today really nicely. So, Look at the students. I mean, it's like It's amazing. So, um, thank you very much for all listening to all of our pillar presentations and thank you guys for making this one extra special. >> And sorry, Dr. I just want to go back

081on two things real quick. Uh, it was under the leadership opportunities. Uh, I just want to highlight campus congress in particular. Um, so, this is a group of 60 students, 15 from each grade that are elected uh, by their peers to this body. Uh, and it's completely ran by students. Uh, we have our speaker this this upcoming year to be Jordan Tabs, um, and he's a senior. Uh, and everything is is from the students and we different committees that break off and leadership roles in it. Um but there's no outside like involvement um and it's all ran by students. Uh and some of the stuff they that they pushed for in the past uh it was making gym pass/fail. Uh I think that was a few years ago, but everything is ran by the students.

082Uh it's really incredible. Uh and then also lead John Jay. Uh so this is a program that it kind of really shifted over the past few years. Um and this year what we started to do is like a mentor- ship with freshman. So I was in a group, it was me and two of my friends uh who are juniors, and we had a group of 10 to 12 uh freshman. And we'd meet with them uh like once a month uh during the community lunch. Uh we'd talk to them. Uh we start off just very light uh and just to get them like excited about it. Um and then just learning about their experiences uh and I just having like making sure that all like freshman have someone to talk to if they need to. Um

083and to make sure that they're getting involved in all the activities here at the high school. Uh it's been really great uh and the program is just developing like over time and shifting every year. Uh and they're also the ones that um are running all these community events uh like J-Fest the other um the other day uh and making sure that all of them run smoothly. So it's just another great group here. >> Sounds like an aspect of the peer mentorship program um that used to be extremely popular. I think might have stopped when you were in eighth grade. I think Molly, the class that just graduated, was the last class to have it and it was an excellent program. So I'm glad to hear that portions of that are coming back to help the

084freshman feel at home. Thank you. >> Well, if it's all right, Dr. Drake, before everybody leaves, sorry about that. Um Lily, I'm just going to go back to and you kind of that centering piece. I feel like you've got me in there in my mindset. So can I ask everybody maybe in the room just for a minute kind of focus in. I'm just going to go through just a little slower on this description of what we're talking about or tonight and seeing how did we do? Did we Are we walking out like, "Okay, we're doing okay." And we always want to improve, but just take a moment cuz sometimes I don't think we do, right? And take a second say, "Okay, we should be proud about this. We're a good space. Let's figure out what

085it is." So, I want to follow your energy. >> Well, I mean if you listen to my presentation, you should say to yourself, So, I think this one great. I think you all should say it went great. >> Are you AVAILABLE EVERY THURSDAY? >> YOU CAN START CHARGING A LOT for 45 minutes. That's what I want to tell So, let me follow that just for a second. So, Kayla Steve fosters learning environment that places students at the center encouraging them to take initiative, embrace leadership roles, and innovate. By nurturing creativity and providing opportunities for student-led initiatives, they help students become confident leaders, who inspire change, and drive progress. Let it sit for a second. Good stuff, right? >> Amazing. >> Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. >> THANK YOU. THANKS FOR SPENDING YOUR THURSDAY

086NIGHT WITH US. WE APPRECIATE IT. >> THANK YOU, Miss Godfrey, for being here tonight. So, thank you, everybody. >> Hang on. >> Thank you, everybody. >> Thank you. Julia, new negotiating He's going to um take the clicker and then you can negotiate for your phone. >> I don't know if it was you or Dr. Drake who decided that was going to go last, but I want to thank whichever one of you it was because that pillar I I mean, I I've watched how they've all come together, right? And that really was that final sticking piece for so many of the things that we talked about where we were able to see in those students in this pillar. So, I thank whoever which one of you decided that it was going to go last. >> I

087have no control here. >> I I agree. I was like, "Oh, that's the one I'm going to remember the most today, for sure." >> We'll go ahead and step up to our next piece here. So, thanks again for board for allowing us once again a I would say our board approaches in a more unique fashion. So, thank you for allowing us to do that and have just a fluid conversation. So, our next piece is we're going ahead looking at our review of our code of conduct on public hearing. So, we have Melissa and Richard here. And then we'll go ahead and just slide shortly in and after that district safety plan. So, Lisa, is there anything you want to start with your group here and we'll kind of kick it over? >> Uh no, this

088is just our annual review. The code of conduct and the district-wide safety plan are both considered policies of the board of education and as a result as a because of that, they both required to be presented as well as a 30-day public comment period. And the code of conduct needs to be in place by July 1. So, this gives us 30 days. Um and I'm grateful for both Melissa and Rich to be here tonight and Rich, you know, is um this year came on as our coordinator of of safety and has really really um made a great contribution to us and you know, it's just been wonderful to have that individual who's dedicated just to um to the state school safety work instead of kind of Melissa and I kind of try to fit that

089in between, you know, payroll and >> budget, you know, facilities, all these things that Um but no, but it's just really and and his expertise in having that he's um worked in the school system as a uh school um resource officer and everything over the years. It's just really grateful for that and Melissa as well. So, um, we're going to begin with the code of conduct and um, this will be brief because well, spoiler alert, there weren't a lot of changes. So, so so this will be a brief um, update but next um, we are looking um, next year looking at more of a comprehensive over um, you know, overhaul really of our code of conduct and um, Dr. Oliva will be leading that and um, so yeah. So, more to come but um, go

090ahead Melissa. >> I'll I'll click. Just let me know when you're >> Okay. Yeah. Thank you for having me. Um, that's a really tough act to follow um, but I will do my best. Um, so you can go to the next slide. Thank you. Um, so as Lisa said, each year the district is required to conduct a public hearing on the code of conduct in accordance with New York State Education Law. The code of conduct applies to all students, school personnel, parents, guardians, and visitors while on school property, including school buses and district vehicles, as well as any school sponsored events. The Board of Education will be asked to approve the code of conduct for the 2026-2027 school year at the annual reorg meeting. Presenting the code this evening allows sufficient time to meet the

091required public comment and review prior to board adoption. Okay. Um, so the code of conduct review process begins by an initial review by the district attorney to make sure that um, there's nothing legally that needs to be added or removed. Uh, after that it goes to initial review by the committee. Um, this year we were fortunate enough to have uh, stakeholders, many different stakeholders represented on the committee, um, including district level administrators, uh, school administrators, um, teachers, clinicians, um, and I want to give a special thanks to board trustees Barbara Williams and Marjorie Schiff and student trustee Hudson there for taking their time out of their busy schedules to really provide thoughtful input. So thank you. Sorry. After the initial review by the committee, we took the committee's suggestions to the attorney to make sure

092that the changes were were good to be made. Then we updated the code and then provided the revised code to the committee to review. So one of the additions that we made was in the essential partner section. We specifically broke out clinicians. They were not prior to this, but the committee recognized that without the clinicians' relationships and supports provided to the students, that these contributions are essential to the success of all students. >> May I ask who qualifies as a clinician at the school? Like what which title that would >> So the school psychologists more particularly and social workers. Yeah. Then we added the word ammunition to the definition of prohibited weapons just to make it as comprehensive as possible. Additionally, we felt that it was important to include language specific to bathroom behavior and

093expectations. That you know, the behavior outlined in this code should remain within the confines of the school bathrooms as well. So the specific language that we added states violating bathroom behavioral expectations includes failing to respect others' privacy, creating unsanitary conditions, loitering without a legitimate purpose, engaging in disruptive contact, misusing restroom facilities, or entering restrooms contrary to posted guidelines. Okay. Um and then changes that we made. Um so, we changed um in section 1B under supportive environment, we changed um district administrator to say employee. Um in this section, it talks about the responsibility of students to report um conduct of bullying, harassing, or discrimination against others. Um and we felt that if that's their responsibility, that they should feel that they can go to whatever employee is around at that time or with whom they feel

094comfortable with, rather than just an administrator. Uh So, then there was FERPA language that whoops seemed misplaced. Um so, we decided to put that under the rights and responsibilities section. Um so, the right is that students have a right to privacy in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA. The district is precluded from sharing disciplinary infractions and penalties with community members without receiving written authorization from the parent or guardian of the student. The responsibility became students are responsible for respecting their own privacy and the pri- privacy of others by not sharing or seeking access to another student's disciplinary or personal information, and by understanding that such information is protected under FERPA. Sorry. The committee felt that it is important not only for students to understand that they have a right to

095privacy, but they also have a responsibility to respect the privacy of others. Adding this responsibility It empowers students with a sense of control over their own privacy and the privacy of others within the KLSD community. Uh This one is a little boring one that the attorneys made us do, but um under federal and New York State law um the superintendent is not the only um suspending authority. Um when there's a violent act um it can also be a building administrator. So, um we changed that to suspending authority. Um and I skipped over this one. Uh under disability section, we changed the age from uh 21 years old to 22 years old. Um by law, students with disabilities must be provided with a free appropriate public education until the day before their 22nd birthday. And that's

096all I got. Any questions? >> Melissa, thank you. We had a really unwieldy discussion and it was a long meeting. And that was like such a great capsule summary. Thank you so much. I enjoyed your characterizations of everything that got changed. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Great. Yes, thank you. >> Great. Thank you. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> Great. >> Well, before I begin, I just want to say that I'm in awe of the presentations that that went on before. It's like I want to go to this workshop now. I'm having a positive affirmation right now and Um first, I'd like to take a moment to thank Dr. Blanche, the members of the cabinet, and the Board of Education for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. Um like

097Lisa said, I am the district assigned security and safety coordinator. Um and I'm going to be be presenting our district-wide safety plan for 2026-2027. Um safety plans are as a result of the tragic events in Columbine back in 1999. Um as a result of that tragic event, Project SAVE was signed into law on July 24th of the year 2000. The acronym SAVE is Safe Schools Against Violence in Education. And the purpose behind this law is to create a safer environment. Schools are required to develop, review, and update safety plans at both a district and a building level. The plans provide a framework for preparing, preventing, responding to, and recovering from any type of emergency there is on a school campus. There's a lot that goes into developing these plans. Um a lot more than than

098I was aware of at the beginning. Um several New York State laws help guide us um when we're developing these plans. And the Al Terrace office our team is in contact with with NYSED every single day. Um getting updates, consulting with them as far as laws and updates, and and they develop our response plans. Some of the laws that are consulted or that guide us are NYSED law 15517 and section 2801-A, and they focus mainly on our school safety plans. Uh section 807 focuses on our fire and emergency drills, which we have certain amounts of drills that we need to comply with each year to be in compliance with New York State. This year, several other documents were used to update the plans. They include uh proposed amendments to 15517, which focus on our AEDs,

099our automatic external defibrillators, um which take up most of the updates in this year's um plan. We also refer to the before and after school planning guide, as well as the fire incident response procedure manual. Um what these are doing is basically saying the before and after school planning says any any protocols or procedures that go on during the school day, from bell to bell, take place before and after school when there are events going on, such as athletic um contests or performances and things like that. Um the fire response incident procedure manual is just basically deals with any alarm that's not planned. We have to report it to the state, and then what they do is they follow back up to make sure we're taking the appropriate measures to prevent the malfunctions, I guess,

100per se, from happening again. Um then there's the KLSD policy 8130, and that basically focuses on school safety plans and teams. That also addresses it you know, when we look at safety teams, it's like the security aspect, but 8130 also incorporates the safety plans for students with um disabilities or um medic- medical needs. Um it encompasses, you know, a a whole bunch, and there that kind of hits home for me because my son has one. Um so I'm pretty, you know, I try to stay on top of that. Um so, you know, that's included and updated every year as well. Um before I get into like the meat potatoes of the updates, I'd like to briefly explain what happens after the plans are developed by the Alturas office. Like I said, our team digs deep

101into this, and they work year-round on these things. And after the Alturas office amends and updates the plans to be in compliance with the state, they're forwarded to the districts for review. The plan is The plan is then reviewed by the district district crisis team, as this allows for input and the opportunity to address concerns and potential new threats. After the presentation to the team is made, the document must be made available for a 30-day public comment period. After the 30-day period, the plan must be formally adopted by the Board of Education by September 1st. The district plan must must then be made available on the district website, and the link must be submitted to NYSED by within 30 days of adoption and no later than October 1st. So, there is a timeline to get

102this done, and and we're well ahead of that at this point, which is a good thing. Um this year's updates, thank goodness, are very few. A lot of it is language-based and just clearing up um a lot of it based around the cardiac updates that were made last year um and and AEDs. Um language regarding AEDs and school cardiac emergency response plans have been updated throughout the plan in the following sections. Um, in the state requirements table, revised language about staff training, which requires training by the 15th of um, September. Section one, general considerations and planning guidelines, um, deal with amended language, and again, that's all AED and cardiac based. Training and review processes, same thing, all cardiac based language. Staff development training section, again, cardiac, um, amended languages. Sudden cardiac arrest was added to

103the bullet list in this section. Protocols for responding to bomb threats, hostage taking, intruders, abduction, and other emergency situations. In the district safety team that's listed in the plan, there is members that need to be on there. What the state has done is they've recommended to add both before and after school personnel, uh, which we have done in this year's plan. Um, and we'll bring them up to speed with protocols, you know, as far as drills and what they need to be aware of, so they're on board with everything that we're practicing within the district. Um, in section two, reduction, prevention, intervention, prevention and intervention strategies, two bullet points were updated. The after school annex bullet was updated to before and after school programs, activities, and events safety annex. The maximum temperature in schools, which

104we just dealt with the past couple days, um, annex was bullet was updated to more accurately align with the February 25 law change, which shifted the requirement from a mandate to a board approved policy on maximum temperatures, which we have here in the district. At the end of the special provision provisions section, a paragraph address the access and functional needs of students, staff, and visitors was added. At the end of the additional evacuation drill requirements section, a paragraph was added explaining that protocols apply to both before and after school um events. As I said earlier, most of this most of these updates were cardiac based because it's such a big deal and that stems from Dasha's Law, which I'm sure most of you are familiar with. Um Dasha's Law requires school safety plans include a

105cardiac emergency response plan that addresses the use of appropriate personnel and measures to respond to incidents involving an individual experience in experiencing sudden cardiac arrest or similar life-threatening emergencies on any school site owned or operated by a school or at a location of a school sponsored event. And a lot of it was just taking the sudden cardiac arrest and expanding it to or similar life-threatening emergencies. It just didn't focus on cardiac arrest, it was similar emergencies. Um and those those were the terminology changes. Um there's some signage requirements that are going to be required, um which I've already started to put into motion as far as signs. Um AED locations must be located in the main entrances of every building and AED usage must be must be reported to New York State. Um mandated training

106for staff is is by September 15th, as I said, and I work with Dr. Drakewith on this with the student instruction having age-appropriate training. Um not as traumatic for students, you know, age-based information is recognizing signs of of, you know, cardiac emergencies or life-threatening emergencies and we work with Christian McCarthy and and and incorporating that into the curriculum. Um Yeah, that's pretty much it. Like I said, it's not as exciting as as the students earlier, >> But important. >> Yeah, it we need to We're in a We're in we're in good shape, for sure. And then now we're working on the building level plans. Those will be coming out soon. Um and we're in a good spot. >> I just have a question about the before and after school additions. Do we mean, for example,

107folks who are participating in a PTO-sponsored, for example, after school program? >> That That would be included. So, what I'd like to explore is maybe a handout or a QR code or something where they could scan it and all the, you know, evacuation procedures, policies would pop up and they'll be informed of that. >> Got it. Thank you. Yeah, incorporating it when they actually fill out the facility >> use facility use form. >> So, they know how to sign in. That'll be part of it. >> whole part of the whole process. Yeah, makes sense. Thank you. >> Not really a question, just something to think about for the documentation or for the like memorializing of this. When you mentioned Desha's Law, I really appreciate you reminding us of that because it is pretty new. And

108I think, you know, all the other laws are laid out in the beginning when you talk about the three laws that inform the safety plans. And then later there's mention of the new change to the law with regard to the heat, the February recent. So, maybe it is worth just somehow, you know, inserting reference to Desha's Law in here just if you feel that those really are then the comprehensive set of laws that this is in dialogue with or that our changes are in dialogue with. But thank you for mentioning it tonight. >> I want to thank you for everything you've done all year. Um this is your first year with the family here and we've been hearing a lot of good things um that are results of your activity. So, thank you. >> Positive

109affirmation, I like it. >> Actually, it wasn't supposed to be TO ME, BUT >> BUT I THINK >> AS SHE SAID, it's >> It It It's definitely been eye-opening for sure. You know, change is is is change and you know, I didn't know what I kind of knew what I was getting into. Um but coming here and I've said it to a couple people, I left a a job where we were family. Um I could count on everybody. We were a team. We supported each other. We were there for each other, you know, day in day out. Before work, after work, if we ever needed help, we were there. Um and when I retired, like part of my walkout my speech was I was going to miss this family. But then coming here, like I

110realized, wow, it's just another family, you know, and and the support has been here from day one. Which has been Which has been great and made my transition a lot easier. >> I don't know if you realize, but we actually get to see you in action during the Meadow Ponds um visit that we did, the school tour. You were You were with the group of um >> the monitor training >> small group, yeah. And we got to see you in engaging, so that was >> That, you know, that was the training that the you know, it was I think it was like four of them, but >> Yep. >> they never had it before, and they were like, this is eye-opening. We were we kind of knew what to do, but we really didn't know

111what to do. And they asked a ton of questions, and it definitely, you know, it's something that we're going to do every year with them. >> And the monitors, as as you now know, having spent your year with us, the those monitors are such an integral part of the fabric of the student body life. Like they're They know the kids better than some of the teachers, I think, because they spend so much time with them. So, thanks for bringing them on board with enabling them to help our kids. >> Thank you. >> My My son does come home and talk about Bobby at Increase Miller just about every day. >> I'm not sure if that's good or bad. >> Well, we hope that Bobby's keeping an eye on him. >> I was going to ask,

112since I am new to the family, too, this has been my first year on the board, when we say that Rich is new here, it was Is this a new position that we put in, or is this a just a new person in this position? >> So, last year, roughly, uh a little bit before the budget cycle started, we had a conversation at the board table, how can we go ahead and and really think about our safety and security across the district and have a constant presence uh that's going to be removed out of like our business office, supports our building principals. Give you an example, even we had a metal pond as you know may know we lost our power but last night we were communicating between 10:30 11:00 we were at 4:00 this

113morning communicating which is right inside of there with us so that's a direct support with central office rich and then the building. We didn't have that before and so then also about the trainings that are coming along so the clarity was there. We had an external group come in and provide an overview of safety and security in our districts and an audit I guess you could say so then out of that audit it was pretty clear we need somebody with you know a specific focus on this work. And so forth we were bringing rich on board with us to be here full time to help us in those areas between Harding of the exterior areas looking at sign edges as Rich spoke about again tonight handling incidents when they take place and running that through

114creating an incident command center. We just a few weeks ago had a you know a table top exercise this is central office chain of an incident so those pieces were clear through the audit and then now Rich has been on board with just keep chipping away at those. So that was the piece and then this board >> is a result of the audit and then also helping to implement the the findings >> Absolutely yes. >> of the audit. >> Yes. >> And yes we mentioned it is having that dedicated person because for example if somebody if one of the greeters calls out sick like literally I would have to go over and train the substitute greeter or Melissa. So and so I mean it could literally be like okay whole payroll first and I'm not

115kidding like you know and that's the thing or a new aids now new that's something too like annually like we would do trainings like that but Rich is able now to do them on a monthly basis or more frequently. Um again because they are you know they're monitors they're attendance on the bus they're you know in the classroom so they're individuals who need to be trained in different areas and um you know and Rich has responded to events on the weekend and then said like, you know, I mean, luckily, you know, we did get a lot >> That wasn't part of the contract, either. >> That's what I thought you meant when you said that it wasn't what you asked for. >> It's identified as other duties as assigned. >> Yeah, you know, weekends, outages,

116power outages, you know, I mean, he just he just thought he was going to do some senior plan work and yes. >> I'm working harder now than I was in my >> Well, the sheer size of our district alone. >> It's Yes, it's large. >> It's actually wild to think that all of this fell under Lisa before you came on board. Just to have seen everything that you've done over the past year. >> It's great. >> How did we Thank you. I don't know how we did it. >> Yeah. Well, Rich Rich has been instrumental and what also maybe doesn't get seen is his ability to connect with people of all ages and I think we've all seen him be able to connect with students, with parents, with teachers, with monitors. So, it's to say

117thank you. It's great to have you here as a colleague and and you've just been instrumental in in so many so many ways. Appreciate it. Thank you. >> There was a little I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm sorry, but there was just very recently that a student says as Neil also mentioned that that you know, he's making those connections with students cuz he has the time to be in the buildings and that was something where just recently that was shared with us that you know, they kind of you know, just the contact he's made and the personal connections with students, too, who really need that, who may not always feel that there's someone to connect with. So, yeah, so thank you for that as well. >> I'm a kid at heart. >> I was just going

118to add that his experience in emergency response is also invaluable as someone who is experienced in it and can focus exclusively on it. As a former building leader, as our building leaders are, like, an emergency happens in your building, it's invaluable to have somebody uh like Rich to connect to. So. >> Who remains calm all the time. So, thank you. >> Sunny outside. >> It's okay. Sorry, it's all matters. >> Well, thank you, Melissa, and thank you, Richard. I appreciate being here tonight. >> Thanks for coming. >> Thank you. Have a good holiday weekend. >> Thank you. >> I like the purple tie. >> So, in the contact changes where it says superintendent, is this >> pending is already I figured out I'm just going to send out call use suspending and all. >> It's

119the nicest thing I've ever >> Call week. >> An upgrade? >> Okay. Moving on, I am going to I guess open and close our public comment section and with you know, just once again, community, we're here. We want to hear from you. Um we want to consider your thoughts and we do welcome you to come and speak with us at the podium. I know it could be frustrating that we're not going to answer you right away, but we do listen and we do consider everything you say and you know, if you come down, you know, we will get back to you with your concerns. So, with that, close public comment. And next we move on to the consent agenda. I am not aware of anything that needs to be pulled out. Anybody? Somebody want to

120make a motion to move the consent agenda? Motion by Bill, second by Barbara. Is there any discussion on any of the items in the consent? >> I guess I would just like to say thanks to both of our team Well, is that next or I Sorry, I was maybe getting ahead of ourselves on the donations. Sorry. >> it's after. >> That's after. We'll just take this one more opportunity to say congratulations on your re-election and congratulations on your election and thank you to our community for the support of the budget and thank you to all of you around the table and to everyone out in the district who contributed to the development of the budget that's going to support all of the wonderful work that we got to hear about all year and everything. So,

121Good news for KLSD. Thank you. >> Yeah, I think we only see a the ice the tip of the iceberg of the amount of work that Lisa and her team put in and >> Julian everybody. >> Yes, you made our deliberations easy. Thank you. >> Um with that we can vote on the consent agenda. All those in favor? I. 6-0, one abstention. >> Just for the record. >> This Stacy has literally been tossed into this within 48 hours. Um so because she is so new, she has, you know, decided to abstain from the voting this time. Next time she'll be have time to come up to speed and understand what's going on. And I hope you're learning some stuff tonight and we'll definitely catch up and and help you under you know, but we're excited

122to have you. >> Reading the consent agenda is a a um a very uh what do you call it? >> It's an art. >> A labor of love. >> A it's an unseen unseen task that board members do. That consent agenda is a >> heavy lift. >> It's one vote but a lot of time at home. >> The transfer funds, the >> Yeah. >> the CPSC reports, the CSE reports, the But there's a lot that really makes up the most of our >> Welcome Stacy. >> Yeah. Okay. Next um my favorite part of every agenda is donations and gifts. So, we have two donations this evening. Very exciting for our sustainability. Um the Westchester Urban Farms Fund Grant. Um on behalf of JJMS teachers Kristen Bourne and Kristina Conners applying for the grant. Um we're

123receiving two raised garden beds for the middle school in the amount of $359.90. And also um the Grangeville High School PTO um is donating $8,000 for the state champion and 18th ranked in the world. Did I get that right? Uh robotics team. May I please move this way? Thank you. >> I'll second it. >> Any seconds? Did you have some discussion on it? >> Yeah, no discussion. I just wanted to um acknowledge that uh you know, it's the second time in in not too too long of a time period where we see a donation that comes out of the initiative of our teachers to apply for particular grant. And I just think that that's speaks um volumes about our teachers and how they're always looking out for opportunities. And um just grateful for that. >>

124Amazing. Okay. Time to vote. All those in favor? 6-0. Tension. Um and next 15.01, board dialogue and discussion. >> I want to bring up a point that Hudson raised tonight with the fact that we're having um discussions about the student counseling center and and mentoring different classes is is a need of this new block scheduling. And I just want to thank the community. I was on the building use committee before I became a board member and then uh Nick my first couple years as we were putting the plans into place. And block scheduling is a huge learning curve. It was put in place into my high school and it takes some time and there's there's pains. There's growing pains and there's learning curves and I just want to express my appreciation to the community um

125for allowing us to do this. I think once we get everything running smoothly and and the teachers have a year or two or three under their belts, I think it's really going to be a huge benefit to our students. So, um thank you for bringing up some initiatives as from the students of how to make it better. I I mean, that just is one more example of how our students are so proactive and just shining examples of being able to advocate for what they need and want. So, thank you for the community and thank you to the students. >> Yeah, I mean, I I know I was talking about like one one little like gap in it, but block scheduling has been amazing like just this year. Uh just how how much work you have,

126how much stress you you have on on your plate. Um also just like how long the day feels. I mean, just it really does go by faster when you're not seeing through nine different periods and you're switching your brain nine different times. Uh so, just like just as everyone's been talking this year, um it really has been like an amazing change to the district. And also, I know you were joking about this before the leadership class. I think it's a great idea and >> I I was really joking. >> No, I I'm glad you were, but I think that would be like really great for us to have. >> Maybe the um what is it called? The superintendent's >> student >> superintendent's student stewardship council? Bring that up. >> Yeah. >> Anyway, I I I

127think, you know, there's a lot of colleges offer There's majors now in colleges in leadership. >> And everyone can use >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Sure. >> More dialogue with anyone else? >> I mean, just a brief word dialogue. Many of us were at the um senior seminar today and the exit interviews with the kids. I mean, I know that we're going to go over some of those answers in in a more in-depth way, but just again, it goes back to your engagement is always so amazing and it shows how many of our kids are really engaged in what they're doing and their feedback and you know, from the the little things to you know, I shook my head to like really big ideas they have and it was just really nice to sit down

128and listen to them answer some of these questions about their experience with 4U. It was all really positive. They all really appreciated the time they spent in the KLS. So, I think that's something that they should be proud of and that we should be proud of and their family should be proud of. And nothing further? I think I was maybe anticipating Superintendent's comments. I'm going to get some coffee. We have to have a new a new name tag made made. Um so, I will uh no, I will not turn it over to you yet. Future meetings. Uh we will be uh Finance Committee will be here uh May 28th at 6:00 p.m. in the district office conference room. Uh many thanks to them for their um work on the budget with us this year, too.

129Not to forget them. They were really helpful. Uh Friday, May 29th, uh the Policy Committee meeting will be meeting at 9:00 a.m. in the district office conference room. June 4th, special special night, community, if you don't make any other meeting this year, we have our tenure and retiree reception and Board of Education meeting in the John Jay High School cafeteria. Um and then Thursday, June 18th, uh Board of Education meeting here at 7:00 p.m. in the John Jay High School library. Now, I will turn it to 17. 01 Superintendent's comments. >> Again, thanks again for tonight with our opportunity to have a conversation. I just want to We had uh I guess it was yesterday our underclassman as we spoke about a little bit earlier and uh Wesley being up there. Um at the start

130of the ceremony we will have one of our students uh perform uh kind of national anthem piece and so it was you know every week he gets something and that was it was it was pretty special and so amazing singer to begin with and then just the you know there's always applause but this is like at that next piece to recognize that um you know what that meant and then thinking you would have spoke about it even earlier tonight about you know that democratic process with our most recent vote and things like that. So it was it was it was pretty powerful to hear that uh that that morning uh at the high school. And so um the ability for us to come together at this table and students come forth as a larger community

131and to to work through so whatever comes out is it's a shared decision, it's a shared determination of what at this moment in time is what we think is our response and our answer. And then what's the next right answer? And I think that's what we hopefully are always looking at. What's the next right answer? So as we bring information to the board now and in the future and know that one of my hopes is is that at our next week uh next meeting in 2 weeks like to bring forth some of the next thoughts about okay, so where might the board want to kind of consider where we go with this next uh process regarding our UPK approach. And so what we're saying very clearly is we are just got our initial release of

132our state funds. So, right on the heels of that, that budget will be passed and it is going to be clear it is now state law we have to have the UPK. So, I need to bring forth what might help with our next right answer with this board to make and so that would be my hope is that their next come together got to bring in some of those themed areas and then have the board to be able to have some dialogue. I know it's really actually it's not even 48 hours yet since those results came out >> out after 9:00 or close to the 10:00 on Tuesday night. So, looking forward to that. So, thank you, board. >> Um would somebody like to make a motion to adjourn to executive session for the purposes

133of uh board development board development. Um motion by Carolyn, second by Bill. All those in favor? 7-0. Thank you.