001Good evening. >> We are We'd like to get started. >> Good evening. Uh welcome to the public budget hearing special meeting of the board of education. Today is Wednesday, May 6th. Stand for the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Now commence the reading of the mission statement. We are committed to academic achievement and success for all students in a safe environment in partnership with families in our community. Our mission is to promote confidence, inspire a passion for learning, and to prepare our students to become responsible global citizens. Is there a motion to approve the revised agenda? >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Second. >> All in
002favor? >> Motion so carries. >> Next we have our 2026 2027 public budget hearing presentation. Welcome Mr. Cahill. If you could just bear with me a moment as we get squared away here with the presentation. Here we go. So, good evening. Uh thank you for allowing me to uh present this evening. Uh my name is Patrick Cahill. For for those of you who don't know me, I'm the assistant superintendent for business and management services here at Monro Woodbury. And uh tonight as part of the budget hearing, we're going to have a brief overview of our 26 27 general fund budget. And at the end of presentation, uh there's a handful of questions, I think three questions that came in as part of our crusader chat question forum. So we're going to answer those and address
003those questions as well. So, uh, this presentation is essentially the same presentation the superintendent made to the board on April 8th. And just just to step back a little bit and talk about the process. So, the the process begins really in uh December and January time frame. And um we make recommendations to the superintendent. Those re recommendations roll up from the schools, the buildings, the directors, superintendent and the assistant superintendents make some decisions about the budget. Superintendent makes a recommendation to the board. The board can adopt that, request changes, ask questions, uh, which we did. The board adopts the budget, which you did on April 21st, and then that, uh, board approved budget goes before the community. And, uh, this year the statewide budget vote date is May 19th. And the uh I I often
004say this I I can think of the school budget as one of the few budgets probably the only budget maybe the library budget is is similar where the public is voting directly on the budget. It's not the case certainly at the federal level, the state level, county or municipal level. So it's uh another layer of transparency uh that we're required to go through. But it's, you know, it's good in the sense that the property tax, um, school tax as part of the property tax is the largest component of that and that's why we have this this local component and the ability to vote on the budget. So the focus areas of the budget were student experience, staff experience, and family experience. And the student experience was largely about uh continuation and enhancement of our academic
005programs, extracurriculars. Uh the staff experience we discussed uh continuation of relevant professional development for next year and the family experience. Uh we touched on capital project progress, facilities and school upgrades that we've made. And um you know obviously I'm directly involved in some of the capital uh project progress we've made, some of the facilities improvements. Uh I would say those touch on family, students and staff. Um you know just to to take a moment and talk about where we are with the capital project. We are undergoing uh a multi-phase capital program four to five years. Uh we've completed phase one of the the program and uh that included four security vestibules at four elementary schools. uh boiler replacements at the high school and Smith Clove Elementary School and renovations at the uh education center. So
006we we're doing the roof replacement there, window replacement and some repointing on the exterior of the building. So the construction phase is largely over and we've started phase two of our capital program with uh reconstruction of the tennis courts behind Central Valley. Um adding lighting to the tennis courts and the girls softball field. We're going to begin construction of the concession building uh in the athletic complex this summer and we're going to do a lot of work at Pineree this summer uh roof replacements, HVAC work and that's going to be two years worth of work in that building. So that's phase two. So a lot of progress and uh a lot ahead of us. We go. So this slide, I won't go into it mercifully, uh, deals with the 2% tax cap and computation of
007the tax cap. So New York State has a law, it's called the they call it the 2% sometimes tax cap because there is a factor here and it's the allowable growth factor. You can see it here, which is 2% or the rate of inflation measured by CPI, whichever is less. So, it's a multi-step formula to calculate an individual tax cap for a particular school district or town or city or county uh for that matter. So, in our case, the tax cap for next year is 2.86% right here and we're proposing a levy increase of 1.95%. So, that's the seventh year in a row Monro Woodbury has levied below the calculated tax cap. And this is the superintendent's budget recommendation. There are two propositions on the ballot uh for next year. It's a proposed total general
008fund budget of $245,52,94. Uh just below that, we have our revenue budget. So I mentioned the school tax levy uh recommended 135.9 million. So that is a 1.95% increase in the levy. We're proposing to use some of our reserves and reserves are uh funds that we've set aside for specific purposes typically um 1.99 million of the reserves for uh for next year's budget. And we're also appropriating or assigning that's the word that we use now in accounting assigning uh fund balance 1.6 million. And what that does is it lowers the uh increase in the levy and uh the for instance the appropriated fund balance of 1.6 million. We feel we're projecting that we will generate enough surplus in the current year to give that surplus back to the taxpayers next year and bring the levy
009down uh lower than it would have otherwise been. So we have the total appropriation budget here often just called the budget 245 million. in here is uh the total revenue budget. With a school district, we have to uh project a balanced budget and uh that's what we have there. So, the other thing you'll notice on the ballot next year is Proposition two, which is Sapphire Elementary School roof replacement at uh total estimated cost of 2.6 million. So, uh the roof at Sapphire is past its useful life. We've had numerous leaks with the roof. Uh, and I I'll I'll admit this putting this proposition on was somewhat last minute because we thought we could wait another year, but we had an exceptionally bad winter. New leaks occurred in the building. We we've patched the roof probably
010a half a dozen times and it just we just feel we can't wait any longer. We consulted with roofing companies and experts and a year can make a big difference uh in this kind of situation. So, we felt like it was important to just put the proposition on there and uh move forward with it. So, even with this proposition on the ballot in May of 2026, we still wouldn't be able to do the work until the summer of 2027. Uh, the good news with this proposition too, notice here the so this is the cost and this is the the funding sources, the finance financing sources. So, we have uh about 4 million in our capital reserve unencumbered to be used for for this purpose. And um we also have uh Excel money. So, Excel was
011a state aid program began in 2006 to help school districts pay for construction and infrastructure projects. So, we have a remaining allocation of 549,000. So, it's a really good use of that uh balance, that remaining funding. So, no no cost to the taxpayers or no tax impact here uh based on this project. And I've said this before, it it's actually even a little better than that to say we have the money on hand and we're going to have some state aid because we will be essentially reimbursed through building aid and building aid is a program for for capital you know reimbursement for capital construction projects over the next 15 years about 70% of the money will come back. So in essence we will be reimbursed for the use of our capital reserve over uh the
012next 15 years. So, it's uh really something that uh we need to do. We originally had this project as part of our capital program and we have a 2023 uh authorization or 2025 and we had to we cut back on that initially in in 2022. So, that was there and then we backed it out. So, we were aware of the problem there, aware that we had to do something. So, uh we're going to move forward hopefully in May uh 19th w with this uh the authorization to move ahead. And this slide simply shows uh the budgettobudget comparison. I didn't mention this, but the budget-to-budget increase for next year is 3.5%. And you see that here out on the right. And this shows 10 years uh of budget-to-budget changes. And uh the 10-year average is just
013over 4%. So we're slightly below the 10-year average here. And this chart shows the tax levy comparison for the last 10 years. We're again proposing a 1.95% increase in the tax levy which coincidentally uh is the same as the average 10-year average which is 1.95 just coincidence. And so here we have our upcoming budget dates. Uh I mentioned on April 21st the board adopted the budget. Uh today obviously is May 6. We're having our statutory budget hearing and uh we're going to mail our budget notice out uh tomorrow I think and um that will have sort of plain language explanations of the budget and then uh the statewide budget vote date is May 19th and if you don't mind are there any questions on anything we covered? >> Okay. What I'd like to do is
014go back to my computer and pull up the questions that were submitted by the public and maybe uh go through those very quickly. >> Sure. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Are you going to do the questions from your seat? >> Uh, yes. Okay. >> I would like to. >> No problem. >> I need to actually look at my PC for this. Okay, sorry about that. So these are questions that came in via the crusader chat question form. So question one was how can we view the budget before the meeting? So information related to the budget is available on the district's website. Obviously uh under menu uh budget and voting information we have the superintendent's budget message there which again in sort of plain language explains uh what we're doing with next year's budget. We have
015the budget statement uh booklet which is this booklet here which has a lot of information a lot of very specific information. A lot of it is prescribed man mandated information about the budget. Uh plus all the presentations that we've made up to this point. Um and as I mentioned previously, we're also uh sending out the budget mailer tomorrow which I think is you know summarizes things well and has uh a nice sort of userfriendly uh approach approach resource resource. Uh next question. I'd like to see classroom doors prioritized at North Main Elementary School. So, good question. Uh, I I touched on the phase 2 uh part of our capital project. Phase three, we will move from Pineree uh to North Main Elementary and and that will also be a two-year process summer of 2027, summer
016of 2028. And as part of the work at North Main, we will be enclosing uh the open classrooms with walls and doors. So, uh, there's a lot of work to be done there at North Main as well. Roof replacement, HVAC work. We're going from the steam, uh, system to hot water and adding air conditioning, but we're also doing a little more there with the construction of walls and doors. So, we we're still we haven't decided if that would be summer of 27 or summer of 28, but it it certainly is part of the plan. And then the final question was can we not invest so much in AI testing programs and instead invest in extracurriculars like the steam and inter mural programs at North Main. So some state testing uh is mandatory right with with
017computer-based testing um mandated by SEDD. participation is mandatory, but I think we continuously evaluate instructional programs and uh make every effort to expand opportunities for students uh in the area of steam and uh and extracurriculars. That's something we regularly look at and um make adjustments as necessary. So, those were the three questions that came in. Uh and that's all I have. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Cahill. Any other questions from the board? >> No. >> Okay. Uh next we have uh comments from interested citizens. Um the board of education encourages district residents to part publicly participate at its meetings and recognizes its responsibility to hear public comment by district residents. Tonight we have three speakers. Each speaker is permitted to speak no longer than three minutes. Um and their comments should relate to
018school matters. First four minutes I'm very sorry. um and it should relate to school matters. First up, we have MWTA president Daryl McElroy. Mr. McElroy. Uh good evening, Dr. Norman, President Simmons, Vice President Donahghue, members of the board and cabinet and Mwood community. As president of the Monro Woodbury Teachers Association and class of 1995 graduate of Monro Woodbury and on behalf of the 10,00 members I represent in the MWTA, I'm here to speak in support of the budget propositions that the community will consider on May 19th. The community is being asked to consider two budget propositions on May 19th. The first proposition is the general budget which is under the tax cap and is a down payment on investing in our students and staff. While there might be additional things that we would like to
019see, we understand that not everything is possible in all instances. If we want to maintain a strong program, however, that draw people to Monroe, it is vital that we pass the budget. In fact, some of our high school music students along with their teachers, Dr. Cone and Mr. Champlain, were featured at the nice representative assembly this past Friday. They showcased not only what Monroe Woodbury has to offer, but also the benefits of a well-rounded public education. Needless to say, our students received a standing ovation from over 10,000 delegates. I received many compliments about our students, from other Orange County teachers, as well as from Nison President Melinda Pson, who personally reached out to me to invite our students to perform at the assembly. We appreciate the support from the superintendent and NISA um in helping
020make that experience possible for our students and staff. In some places, music, the arts, sports, clubs, elective courses, AP and dual enrollment courses are seen as unnecessary experts. Thankfully, this is not the case in Monbury, and that is what makes the our district special. A yes vote helps to keep Monroe Burberry as a district of distinction, a leader among districts in Orange County and across the state. The second proposition will provide necessary repairs to the roof at Sapphire Elementary. and because it uses Excel and capital reserve fund balance to get zero tax levy impact. That's simply a no-brainer and we urge our members and the community to vote yes. Today is coincidentally national nurses appreciation day and we are grateful for our school nurses and school nurse teachers who work tirelessly to keep our students
021and staff healthy. They are a vital resource to the public health mission of the district and the state. Their role goes well beyond taking temperatures and handing out band-aids as they are true first responders to our students who are dealing with social emotional trauma, poverty, and food insecurity. They help get our student athletes ready for their upcoming seasons. They ensure compliance with state mandates on vaccinations, saving the district thousands of dollars a day while we are in compliance. Thankfully, there is also a recognition that they should not be responsible for potty training our youngest learners on a daily basis for which they are grateful. and we are lucky to have this dedicated team in each of our school buildings. This week also marks National Teacher Appreciation Week and yesterday was National Teacher Appreciation Day. I
022would like to thank the district level and building level PTAs for all the work they do throughout the year to support teachers and students, especially this week. If you've not already joined the PTA, what are you waiting for? That partnership is very important and it's less than a cup of coffee uh a day for sure. Um, even in this account, as we continue to negotiate in good faith, we'd certainly also appreciate a fair contract that balances the needs of the district and the needs of my members, including the teaching assistants, RNs, DPS staff, and teachers. We also have Mother's Day coming up this Sunday, and I want to take a moment to honor the moms out there, especially mine, whose birthday is also on Friday. my mom. Whether you have children by birth, adoption, surrogacy,
023or you are a mother figure for someone in your life, your love and support for your children is vital to to their success. That's true really for all parents, but our love and support for our kids is not enough to guarantee success. Being a parent is simultaneously joyful or stressful. Perhaps the biggest stress comes from figuring out how you're going to support your child. Between the cost of diapers, formula, child care, and inadequate parental leave policies, it's no wonder that our members are struggling. And if we have the power to make things better and the opportunity to do so, then we should work together to make that happen. In fact, just three months ago at a reception many here attended, uh, we honored Norine Farrell, Mon Woodbury class of 87, for her nationally recognized legal
024work in women's equity and parental leader by inducting her into the Monro Woodbury Hall of Distinction inaugural class. Monroe Woodbury isn't Monro Woodbury because it follows. Monroe Woodbury is Monro Woodbury because it needs. In closing, I urge the community to vote yes on prop one and two on May 19th and urge the community to vote for proublic education candidates for the board who will center the needs of students and staff and not personal agendas. Polls are open from 6:00 to 9 at Central Valley Elementary. Your vote is your voice. Use it. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is uh PTA president Bernie Vega. Good evening. My name is Bernie Vega and on behalf of Morwood PTA which includes seven PTAs and districts wide staff. I want to thank the board of education, administration, teachers, staff,
025families and community for another year of partnership and support. Many of the experiences families now see throughout Monroe Woodbury are the result of years of collaboration advocacy between PTA stepped up families, educators, and district leadership. from moving up experiences for for our youngest students with little cap and gowns to continued conversations around intentional belonging, communication capabilities, week opportunities in all buildings and meaningful experiences for all of our students. This work continues because we care deeply about our children and community. PTA is the oldest and largest volunteer-run child advocacy organization in America. We've um founded more than 125 years ago by women who believe families should have a voice in education and advocacy for children. Throughout the years, Monrowood Building PTAs intentionally fund for meaningful assemblies, enrichment opportunities, family experiences, many at little or little or
026no cost, and have contributed to the culture of what of Monro Woodbury. We try to focus less on trinkets and more on experiences that build connection, belonging, and community for students and families. Our PTA leadership includes professionals, executives, business owners, freelancers, and working parents who often use their paid time off, personal time, and family time to give back to our school. While much of this work may seem simple on the surface, it takes significant coordination, communication, and commitment behind the scenes as we manage social media accounts, emails in real time as they come in. We're not here asking for recognition for ourselves, but we do ask for the board, the cabinet, and community here to continue supporting P3 PTA through annual membership for only $11 partnership feedback and involvement. So, if you have supported the
027PTA this year through membership, thank you. And if you haven't, there's still time so we can continue with our end of year events for the students. This week is teacher appreciation week and today is nurse appreciation day. On behalf of families across the district, thank you to our teachers for showing up every day ready to support our children and for seeing the invisible backpacks that they carry with them. We also thank the administrators for continuing to treat PTA as partners in education. That partnership is part of what makes Monro Woodbury such a special community. And as always, we encourage families to part participate in the May 19th budget vote. But as a reminder, PTA is an organization that cannot publicly advocate for the budget itself. So, we do recognize the value and we do recognize
028the value of many of the supports and positions included within it and and what they represent for our students and schools. And finally, if not already addressed publicly tonight, we would appreciate a public update regarding the self-funded summer enrichment program and the RFP results uh for school picture contracts. Thank you and have a great evening. >> Thank you. Our final uh public speaker this evening is Monroe Woodbury Teachers Association Vice President Casey Caiten. Good evening everyone. I'm actually here tonight with a different hat on. It's probably my favorite hat to wear and that's as a mom. So, good evening to all and I'm here tonight representing the Madra Woodbury all night grad party committee. Before providing an update on our progress, I would like to extend our committee sincere gratitude to the dedicated educators and
029school nurses of our district. We observe teacher as we observe teacher appreciation week and national nurses day. We recognize that their tireless commitment is the foundation of our students success. So, the all night grad party is a long-standing tradition here at Mandre Woodbury High School. Last year's team was able to bring it back in its original form. Our mission is to provide our graduating class with a secure drug and alcohol-free environment to celebrate their achievements. This year, the event will take place on Friday, June 26th from 1000 p.m. to 300 a.m. So, if any of you up there on stage have insomnia, by all means, come join us. Parents are going to transform this building, excuse me, into a magical nautical under the sea cruise excursion. As we wish all the best to our cruise
030saders that are about to take off on their next adventure, we will have inflatables, airbrushed party flavor uh favors such as trucker hats, caricatures, arcade games, food trucks, a hypnotist, and a prize wheel where students may walk out of here with gift cards up to $500 in value. Fundraising, especially in this economy, has been no easy feat. We have to have we have had to be creative from dorm room makeover raffles to decision day cookies which were made byious cookies and they're going to be given out on decision day May 8th. A generous portion of their sales are going right back to our all night grad party. I want to take a moment to thank the All Night Grad Party board members, Karina Flores, Sharon Buckman, Pepper Fateman, Greg Romano, Denise Williamson, and Jessica Rosttoanic
031for taking on this project. Thank you to our high school PTSA for all of your continued support. I'm proud to say that this committee is close to hitting the 60,000 mark and is greatly due to the support and generosity of this Monro Woodbury community. Thank you to all of our parent volunteers, especially Tiffany Wood and Tracy Maldonado, who worked tirelessly to pull off two successful apocalyp bingos. And speaking of, I have to give a very special shout out to the one and only Dr. Sierra for volunteering her Friday evening to host our event. You with a microphone is an experience for all. The success of our all night grad party is a direct reflection of the partnership between our district, parents, and the broader community. We look forward to providing the class of 2026 with
032a memorable, safe graduation experience. Thank you for your time and for your continued support. And let me be one of the first to congratulate the class of 2026 as we're about to enter the graduation season. And to remind them that tickets for the all night grad party will be going on sale soon. So seniors, please check your Google classrooms. Have a good evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, back to tonight's agenda. Uh motion to approve the minutes of the April 21st, 2026 special meeting of the board of education. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion so carries. Motion to approve the 2026 2027 board of education meeting calendar. >> Motion >> second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion so carries. Motion to approve the second reading and adopt the
033policies as present. Policy 8130 school safety plan and teams and policy 530.65 visitors to the school. >> Motion second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion so carries. reports by board of education committees. Um, audit committee trustee Serella. >> Thank you. Um, we have an audit committee meeting that we're planning the week of 68. Um, I'm just waiting for confirmation. I believe I saw emails going out that Tuesday the 9th was the preferred date. Um, we just have that shortly and then that'll be posted. Uh, that would be the next meeting. Thank you. Uh policy committee, Vice President Donahghue is not here. Um so I will give that update. The policy committee did meet. Um we are in the process of going through uh two other policies. We're waiting for feedback from the attorneys.
034Um and then we are going to make a slight adjustment to one of the policies before submitting it for first reading. Um we are looking at tentative dates for the next meeting. Um and that is it for policy. uh visitation and capital project task force trustee Reynolds. >> Uh no changes to the capital project task force unless Patrick has anything to add from his side. >> I I uh think I addressed many of the uh the updates uh well underway and uh moving into phase two and it'll be busy summer this summer and uh the next couple of summers. >> Thank you. Uh Dr. San, >> sorry for visitation. We have a meeting on Monday at 4:30 Craigville School. So come out and support your oldest school in exhibition. >> Thank you. Uh Dr. Santi
035Cole is not here. Uh and there are no updates from the Oxa. >> Reports by our student representative of the board of education, Mrs. Hey guys, happy Wednesday. Um I hope everyone's Whoops. I hope everyone's month of April went well. The last visitation I had was at Pine Tree Elementary on Monday, April 13th, and students there stated that they had mixed feelings about coming to school in the morning. A student shared that in the mornings, it's usually busy at home with their siblings, so they really enjoy coming to school cuz it feels quieter. But of course, some students have a little bit harder time waking up in the morning like me. So, um, it's a bit difficult for them. So, it's kind of 50/50 on that. In terms of activities, students said that there are
036a bunch of fun things to do, especially during indoor recess time. They mentioned playing board games like chess and using magnets, which they seem to really enjoy. When talking about their general school experience, students said that they like playing with their classmates and that their friends are nice to them, which is great. Um, in terms of subjects, PE was definitely a fan favorite in the group with multiple students mentioning that gym is fun and more enjoyable compared to the other subjects. And they also really like going to their specials. Specials are things like music, gym, art, stuff like that. Um, the students said that for lunch their favorites were the tacos and the spaghetti. So, that's pretty interesting. Um, most students said that they felt comfortable talking to their teacher, especially if they have any
037problems going on, whether at home or at school, which is always something great to hear. And lastly, students also shared that they wish they could play volleyball more and also for more days off school, which is expected. So, I want to give a big shout out to Mr. Germaine and Mr. Martin for having me at Pine Tree that day. Um, also on Wednesday, April 15th, I attended the Orange County School Boards Association meeting for all the board of ed student representatives in Orange County. Um, I personally really enjoyed that meeting because it was very comforting for me sitting down with all the other students that could relate to this position and know what the job entails. I also took a lot out of that meeting with how other board of ed representatives uh communicate with
038both the administration and students in their district and also the different ways that they saw the role and their responsibilities which were a bit different from how everyone else sees something. A lot of what they said which I found interesting were things that were already taught to me by either my high school administrators or central central administration themselves. things like what being a leader is a good and active communicator. Uh connecting and talking to all the students no matter what activities or what groups they fell into and helping students feel comfortable with speaking up. So those things already being taught to me going on to those meetings were very helpful and I already had a good basis of understanding. Uh, something that two students said that would that stood out to me the most was
039in quotes, "Helping students feel heard makes them feel like they matter. And if you don't use your position, there's no purpose of being there." The only thing I would change about this meeting was having it earlier on in the school year instead of April so that all of us could in the meeting could take those ideas we heard from each other and have more time to use it during the school year instead of in after school year and pass it on. Um, all in all, it was a really great experience. So, I thank you so much for the invite. That's it for me. My next visitation should be at Sapphire Elementary next week, Friday, May 15th. Have a great day. >> Thank you. >> Uh, is there a motion to approve personnel items 11.1 to
040119? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion so carries. Business and financials. Well, you got a stand an ovation for your arrival. Welcome, Dr. Sans. I'm assuming the applause was for Zoe. Thank you as always for your masterful um insight of the district. Um motion to approve business and financial items 12.1 to 12.9. Motion >> second. >> All in favor? >> Motion so carries. >> Motion to approve committees on special education and preschool education items 13.1 to 13.5. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion so carries. Motion to adjourn the public portion of the meeting and convene into the executive session for the purposes of discussing legal matters. Are you doing reports by the board? >> Of course. I'm sorry. Okay, let's see how I
041can shake this up this week. >> We're going to start with you, Dr. Sergey. >> Oh, boy. >> Um, I wanted to uh thank you, thank you, Patrick, for the presentation. As always, there's a lot of work that goes into it. Zoe, always great to hear. Um, everybody have a great evening. >> Thank you. I know you just arrived, but I'm putting you on the spot, Dr. Santico. >> Hello. >> We I attended the April 27th meeting, Generative AI, and I thought it was very informative. Um, it's a great adjunct for teachers and for students, for learning and teaching. I actually implemented in my own practice as um an educator in medicine. And the next meeting is June 2nd. >> Anything else? >> Oh, yes. One more thing. They gave a shout out to Zoe.
042They were the meeting prior to that. Uh it was for the students. I think they were the highlights and um Zoe got a big shout out. >> Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Sans. >> Mr. Cahill, >> I'm up. Uh so I'll make this brief. I just want to thank my colleagues for all the work that they've uh done in in uh developing the budget for next year. We're we're almost there. And with that, I hope everyone has a nice evening. >> Thank you so much, Trusty Serella. >> I want to thank the uh administration for the budget work. I know how much work goes into that and pulling those numbers and figures together. Um very much appreciated and I also appreciate the followup and the answers to questions that were posed. And I just want
043to encourage everyone to get out and vote on 519 and vote, you know, for the budget and support the school district and the kids. And that's it. Have a good night. >> Thank you so much, >> Dr. Ver. So earlier this year, uh we implemented distraction free law um and we we monitor the first survey. There is a second survey out to our K12 parents and staff and a middle school and high school students. So take a few minutes to to complete that survey. The goal is to get some information um and then compare and contrast and be better next year. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Vias. Dr. Morales. >> Good evening. I'd like to congratulate our special Olympians who were able to compete at West Point. And while doing so, I also want
044to thank our coaches and staff who make such an incredible day possible. I also just want to take a moment and acknowledge our teachers and nurses for teachers appreciation week and nurses appreciation day. But again also acknowledge our PTA to help celebrate some of our most valuable resources in the district. As we wrap up state testing this week, we have lots to look forward to our concert season, our art shows and Kayfest. And finally, a happy Mother's Day to all of our moms out there who are moms at home and continue to come in and fill that role for many of our students every day. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Trustee Officer, >> good evening. I want to say happy teachers week to all our educators. Thank you for your dedication to
045our students and the MW family. Also, happy nurses appreciation day to all our nurses in our respective buildings. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, >> Trusty Novak. >> Just want to say thank you to everyone who contributes to the budget. It's a lot of work. Um I'm grateful for for all the diligence that goes in. Happy teacher appreciation week. Thank you to the PTA. That makes it special. Shout out to Zoe for her incredible recruitment video. Tough act to follow for your person who's going to fill your shoes, but um thank you for your contributions every every time we have a meeting. And have a good good evening everyone. >> Thank you very much, Miss >> Trusty Reynolds. >> Thanks to the staff and faculty what they do every day. We appreciate you more
046than just this week, but all year long. uh please get out and vote and support your community, your students and your your staff and faculty on 19th May and have a safe evening. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Hassler. >> Couple of quick congratulations. Congratulations to Cameron Brown who earned first place and the state championship in welding at the Skills USA competition in Syracuse, New York earlier in the last month. Um, also congratulations to the entire FBA team and specifically Kia Ma who was elected as the New York State Future Business Leaders of America vice president. This is the second consecutive year that a Monterbury student has been on the board for the state FBA organization. That's awesome. Nominations for the Hall of Distinction closed last week and the selection committee is hard at work.
047uh they're reviewing the nominees and they plan on releasing the 2006 inductees into the Hall of Distinction. So, be on the lookout for that. Finally, uh it was mentioned that the art show is Friday night. We have 22 senior art majors and I would like to share that our art department has been approved by state ed to offer the individual arts assessment pathway. And as the state evolves the graduation requirements to uh achieve a diploma in New York State, that pathway will assist us in continuing that our students are at the forefront of um showing their great skills. Happy Mother's Day to every all the moms out there and have a good night. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, >> Trusty Balina. >> Um thank you to the administration for the work you guys
048put in for the budget. Um, thank you Patrick for presenting it clearly, easy to understand. Um, Zoe, as always, thank you for the insight into what the students are looking for. Um, and thank you to our speakers today. Um, it's nice to hear from from everybody. So, have a good evening. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Burgerer. >> Good evening. Uh, the board approved some upcoming retirements for this summer. So I would just like to acknowledge Melinda McCall who is a teaching assistant at Pinereee and Walter Cox who's a custodial worker at the high school and congratulate the two of them on their upcoming retirements and just thank them for their dedication and the service that they have provided to our great district. So congratulations to both of them. This is a busy time of year
049in terms of hiring for the HR office as we are planning for staffing for next year. And I want to congratulate all of the new hires and new appointees this evening. I know of at least a couple that are in the audience tonight. So, I want to congratulate and welcome to the Monroe Woodbury family new and upcoming Smith Clove principal Allison Callahan, who will be starting on July 1st. I also want to congratulate Marisol Jackson who is our current CV assistant principal. Marisol will be our Central Valley principal starting August 10th later this summer. So congratulations Marisol. Congratulations to Allison and all of our new hires. We're very fortunate to be bringing in some tremendous people to to our district and I just want to thank the administrators and the committees who have been working
050really hard to uh do the work behind the scenes to bring in the best to to our district. So, thank you to those as well and have a good evening. >> Thank you very much. >> Thanks, Zoe. This weekend is the district art show. So, I encourage everyone to step out, attend, and support the senior art majors who have worked their butts off for four whole years. I've heard a lot about it from my friends. They have worked really hard. Please support them. Also, congrats to the Special Olympians who recently competed at West Point. And finally, this week is teachers appreciation week, and I do see a couple of teachers in the audience. So, thank you so much for everything you do for this district. and for all the hard work and for touching so
051many students hearts including mine. Also, happy nurses appreciation day. Um, my mom's a nurse, so I could just imagine all the hard work you guys go through just from hearing from it. So, thank you for all your work and happy mother's day. >> Thank you, Bo. Dr. Norman, >> good evening. Good evening, everyone. The MWPTA council has announced that they will not host the meet the board of education candidates night originally scheduled for May 15th. Uh as the current council leader is on the ballot this year, the decision was made to forego the event in the interest of fairness and transparency. I don't want to be redundant, but I would certainly be remiss if I didn't echo the words of acknowledging our teachers, our nurses for for all that you do. Uh, sincerely, thank you.
052You are appreciated and you do matter. As was mentioned, concert season is underway. Please come out and support. Um, and lastly, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers. Uh this is more special to me because I get to see my mother tomorrow who's coming to New York and more importantly um we will be together and we will celebrate my son who is graduating from Syracuse this weekend. So you won't see me out but it's for a good reason. I will be acknowledging him. Thank you and have a good evening. >> Thank you Dr. Norman. I also want to thank um the entire team for putting together all of the budget presentations this bud budget season. As I always say, lawyers don't do math. Um and you've always made it very easy uh to understand and
053to know that the resources of this district are being spent in the most apt way um and to make sure that we have the best outcomes for our students. So, thank you all for putting those together. Um, happy teacher appreciation week and nurses appreciation week. Uh, being an educator is one of those things that you don't realize is probably one of the most important jobs you will ever have. Shaping the lives of young people, encouraging them, being an air to listen, being their safe space. Sometimes you mold the next generation year after year after year. As a parent, I can't tell you how thankful I am to every single educator, teaching assistant, teaching aid, every support to faculty because the students that we see like the Zoies of the world who graduate and shape the
054the next generation of this world, they all started because of an interaction with a teacher like you. So, thank you. It is sometimes a thankless job, but you see the tangible the tangibleness of your impact every time you see a student walk across the stage, every time you see an athlete hold that trophy, every time you see someone leave this this district, and they just make a tremendous impact in the world. And while it's not usually a pat on the shoulder moment, take a moment to pat yourselves on the shoulders because a lot of that success is because of the people who sit in this and many other rooms. So, thank you for the work that you do. Um May 15th, if anyone cares, it's the best day of the year. I won't tell you
055why, but um I have gotten a few early birthday uh wishes, so I am immensely always grateful for those. So, thank you. Thank you very much for thinking of me. Um, to all of the mothers and mother figures, thank you for all of the tireless work that you do to also make sure that everything gets handled in a way that only a mom or mom figure can. Uh, have a great evening and I hope everyone enjoys Mother's Day and all of these appreciation weeks that celebrate all of you. Thank you. And now motion to adjourn the public portion of the meeting and convene into executive session for the purposes of discussing legal matters. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion so carries. The meeting is adjourned.