001Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the board of education. Today is Wednesday, January 7th, 2026. I'd like to invite um fifth grade student Elnaz Abasi up to uh lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Please stand. 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. Good evening. President trustees leadership. We appreciate your continued commitment to our students and our school. Central Valley is pleased to host tonight. Are we pleased? >> We're pleased to host tonight and have the to be a highlight some of the great work happening in our school. Every day our students and staff strive towards academic excellence, personal growth and a culture of respect and responsibility.
002This evening we have representatives from our computer club referred to as CBTV. They're here tonight to provide with something exciting. Our assistant principal Jackson has shared with you one of their recent creations that embodies all achievement. I would also like to introduce Mr. Mr. who is our club advisor. Good evening and welcome to Central Valley. I'm your proud assistant principal here and we are so excited to share our computer club with you. Over the past few years, the computer club has transformed into a vehicle where our students can use their voice for self expression. The club affords the students an opportunity to gain skills such as mind management, interpersonal skills, and organization just to name a few. The students also velop self-confidence. Our students come up with story ideas under the adisement of Mr. Phil.
003They create story boards that come to life as they each play their part in their role as writers, actors, camera people, directors, and editors. It is my pleasure to introduce some of the members of our CBD team. My name is my favorite and I'm fifth My name is Ith grade and my favorite anchor my favorite was my name is We meet on Wednesday morning. our videos. We invite you now to take a seat in the audience as we share with you our latest episode. We present to you Good day, Aiden. Have a good day, Diego. I'll see you later. Have a great day. Bye, everybody. Oh, be nice. Be nice. Be nice. Be nice. >> Yeah, you beat him. >> Why did the cow cross the road? >> Why? >> So he could go to
004the movie. >> Morning everybody. >> [music] >> from Tennessee. Today is Tuesday, December 9th. Good morning, Central Valley. Hi, my [music] Thank you very much. >> [music] >> Please send Miles to the meter reader. Thank you. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. HEAT. [music] HEAT. >> [music] >> HEAT. HEAT. [music] Heat [music] up here. [music] Heat [music] [music] up here. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [applause] >> [clears throat] >> Thank you. [clears throat] Thank you. [applause] We're going to give the students a minute um to exit the auditorium. But again, such an amazing amazing job. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful day in the life of CV with us. All right, we will now continue with the reading of the mission statement, which is a great segue given that it
005was pro prominently in video. So, thank you for that segue. We are committed to the academic achievement and success for all students in a safe environment in partnership with families and our community. Our mission is to promote confidence, inspire a passion for learning, and to prepare our students to become responsible global citizens. Right into the agenda, um motion to approve the revised agenda. Is there a motion? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion so carries. Uh action 5.1 motion to approve the updated board of education calendar for the 2526 school year. Is there >> motion? Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion so carries. >> Questions and comments from in interested or concerned citizens. There is none for today's meeting. >> Item 7.1. Is there a motion to approve the December 10th, 2025 minutes?
006>> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> motion so carries. Uh item 8.1 um reports by board of education committee members. Um Trusty Serell, >> uh we have an audit committee meeting at the Haramman Center on January 26th at 6 PM and it's estimated to be about an hour and a half long. >> Vice President Donnie. >> Yes. Uh the policy committee is uh awaiting some response from the attorneys and we're also working on a draft of a new policy and hopefully it'll be ready to be presented at the next meeting for our first reading. >> Visitation and capital projects. Trustee Reynolds. >> Uh for visitation we visited this lovely building and North Main I think since our last meeting. Um, both buildings are doing uh upgrades and making a more conducive environment
007for our students and staff and faculty, which are great things. And I think our next meeting is at the end of the month. Um, for the capital project, we're setting a meeting hopefully at the end of January is the goal. Um, which will be obviously on the district website once we get that confirmed. >> Thank you, Dr. Santa Call. Uh, Oxba. >> Thank you. I have five items that I took from the meeting. The budget of 2025 to 2026 was uniquely positive and that included the universal um school meals for the first time in 30 years. But for this year, they don't expect a overall federal a large overall federal um package. So just be aware. Just listening to the various meetings I've learned many ways to say the budget is limited. So financially um
008restricted is my favorite. First time ever they're headed um we head into the new state budget cycle with more than half the districts in the state that are on safe harmless and before it was 40% now it's up to 58%. January 6, which I know is important to you, there is a virtual capital conference meeting, which is a half-day program. And then February 11th, Wednesday, is the in-person lobby day in the state capital and legislative office in Albany. So, if we want to send an advocacy delegate, we just have to call them or email them just so show some kind of confirmation, acknowledgement from the board president or the clerk to the person in charge. and um they will send out an email to everyone to see if um we have any plans to participate
009on the actual day and then I can forward you a flyer that was sent out. There are various awards and recognition programs that exist. We want to be able to celebrate our community and our students for services that they provide for our district. So this year they want to show more positive um energy rather than negative. So whatever whoever we can um promote for a good deed or a good action, we can do that and I can forward you the worksheets that they sent, the flyer that they sent, and it could be retroactive within two years, but current is preferable. And lastly, on February 3rd, there will be a virtual meeting, the president's report, and they have a special guest joining that day is retired Colonel Christopher Hashek, and I hope I said his name
010right, will be joining to talk about how veterans can be of service to our students and local veterans have also expressed interest in coming to local schools and speaking to the students about the importance of civil service, their work, and the services and other available programs. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Santle. Um, report by our student board representative, uh, Zoe. >> All right. Um, good evening and happy first meeting of 2026. Um, I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season and thank you to Central Ele Valley Elementary for having us. Um, last year was December 17th, I visited Smith Club Elementary and I had a stunning time. Um, one thing I noticed and adored was the environment of the school. It was absolutely beautiful. The hallways and doors were fully decorated uh showcasing the
011students work throughout the building and I was also given a grand tour of the building. And two things specifically stuck out to me then. Um the library which felt like its own magical place itself and there was also a very long but safe hallway. I did forget the name of it, but students could go run and like blow off some energy since Mclove is um so yeah, since Mclove is a kid one school and the kids that age constantly have lots of energy. So, I thought that was very smart. Um after the tour, I met with around 10 kids give or take there and I first read them a book and then asked them a couple of questions I had prepared disguised as games to keep their attention. Um, and what I found and they
012stated that they did in fact like coming to school and having fun with their friends, which is always nice. They felt very comfortable talking to teachers and staff and stated that they feel safe at school. Um, they stated that their favorite things to do were going to lunchtime and recess, learning things like the alphabet, playing with friends, or sitting on the bus with those friends. Um, a student did say that they wish they could have more ice cream. So, we should get on to that. Um, and something that this stuck out to me is I asked what they would want to be when they grow up. And the first response I got was they wanted to be kind. And that sentiment of knowing to be kind, not only being taught to students at that age,
013but also having it stick and stay with them is very important and also impressive. So, there are great things being taught as smo. Um, pivoting on, last meeting at the end, I shared a few responses from the fall survey sent to the middle school and high school. So, I decided to share a couple more responses. Uh, starting off strong, a seventh grader stated that the middle school bathrooms could be more colorful, more colorful, and some board games to play at lunch when bored would be great additions. Another six a sixth grader said that doing more activities with other houses would be more enjoyable. A 12th grader at the high school said they think the lack of phones makes school more personal and also said that if they would change something in the high school, they
014would add an actual system for the B4 common area so it's not too crowded. Um, a 10th grader at the high school stated that they would like to see security being improved because quote, "There are so many chances people could leave school. for example, when we go outside for gym and nobody would notice according to how close the highway is." End quote. Another 12th grader stated that they enjoy all the events that students get to partake in. Um, some other schools they mentioned only have events for seniors, but this school has events for everyone, which is great. An eighth grader said that if they could add something, they would add a therapy cat, dog, hamster, and snake. And lastly, a sixth grader said that they like the most about school is their friends, the kindness,
015the food, and stated that the teachers are so very nice. Um, again, most of these responses are pretty outdated since they were taking back in the fall. So, I'm currently working on another winter survey to send back out to the middle school and high school students again. Um, one thing I do want to add is for the students to explain why they feel certain ways and about what they wrote on the survey because I noticed from the fall one that they would write out answers but not really explain why or what led them to that answer. Um, I believe an explanation would be favorable and very needed. If there are any specific questions the board or administration would like me to put on the survey, please let me know. And my next visit will be
016this Friday, January 9th, back here at Central Valley Elementary. And after this Friday, I would be able to say that I have visited all the schools in the district for the first semester and I will be coming back. Thank you. >> Thank you for that insightful as always um overview. Zoe um for business and uh sorry for personnel uh motion to approve items 10.1 to 10.14. Motion. >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion so carries. >> Business and financials. Is there a motion to approve um 11.1 through 11.6? >> Patrick, did you have anything you wanted to go over? >> I can you repeat that, Michael? >> Did you have anything you wanted to go over? Sometimes you have donations and stuff. >> Um, >>
017no. I motion second. >> All in favor? I. >> Motion so carries. Committees on special education and preschool education. Motion to approve. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor. >> I. >> Motion so carries. Reports by the board and central office. Dr. Hassler. >> Happy new year to everyone and welcome back. Thank you to Central Valley for being great hosts, particularly the CVTV crew. Uh I'm I'm very happy to see that our video production program has a a long bright future ahead of it. So I know Mr. Truid up at the high school is going to be very eager to get an amazing group of students well done. Uh had the pleasure of reading at the annual Pine Tree Readathon and Miss Lakus' classes before break. Thank you to them for uh hosting me.
018It was awesome. Congratulations to our retirees. I'd also like to uh acknowledge uh a welcome to Marisol Herz who's going to be starting as our new registar. Uh congratulations to Marisol with registrations in the curriculum instruction office. So we're excited to have you. Uh one last item just before winter break, the Hall of Distinction selection committee announced the eight inaugural inductees to the Hall of Distinction. Congratulations to Norin Ferrell, Steve Fishbine, Andy Grammar, Lou Hall, Jonathan Hubert, Ron Johnson, Anthony Sorantino, and John Troutman. Uh I encourage everyone to hop on the news story on the district website and you can read their bios. It is an amazing amazing group of individuals who have done so much for our school district and we're looking forward to inducting them into the Hall of Distinction next month. Thanks.
019>> Thank you, Dr. Hler. Miss Novak. >> Um, just wanted to say a huge thank you to Central Valley, especially the CBTV team. That was super impressive. And I heard a lot of them really their favorite was editing, but whoever did the music needs a shout out. Incredible and really added to the storytelling. So, thank you for that. Um, and wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2026. >> Thank you, Dr. Morales. >> Uh, similarly, I just want to thank Mr. Baron and Miss Jackson and Mr. Krill and the students of CBTV. That was really an amazing welcome and highlight of being a student at CB. So well done. Thank you. Um and also to welcome Marisol Here as our registar. We look forward to working with you and have a great night. >> Thank you
020Mr. Seriela. >> Uh happy new year. Wishing everyone a great healthy and prosperous 2026. Uh thank you to the CV team. Um one we know how much work it goes into hosting us here. So, we really appreciate that. And to the audiovisisual crew and it whoever is involved, everybody gets thanks. Um, also to the CCTV team, that was a great video. Um, well done. The editing was well done. And, um, I leaned into another board member and I said, "Wow, this is an elementary school and look at how good it is." So, excellent job. And I want to wish everyone a great rest of your week and a great rest of your evening. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Sounds cool. >> Thank you. Thank you to Mr. Baron and Miss Jackson for hosting us
021today. This is my favorite school because I'm biased. My kids go here. Uh thank you so much for the CV team. You did a beautiful job and again I know a lot of work goes into it and it's the quality so amazing for elementary school. I was impressed when we did the school visitation. I heard about what goes into it and I thought it was just so beautiful and great opportunity for the kids. It was a great idea to have new board members uh be on the visitation team because I get to know I got to know the the principles assistant principles and I saw how much pride and how much energy they have in relation to their building, the kids, the programs and every school has a different personality which I love. We recently
022went to CV and CT the CVC um TV team impressed me and also the fact that they can uh have a say in what they eat for lunch and Chinese food has been popular. So I thought that was really cute. uh for North Maine, which which is another school we went to visit, and I love their library, the Lego wall, the um [clears throat] rocket room, just the engagement that the invite, the in cozy feeling that that library invites, you know, probably encourages kids to read even more. So, thank you and happy new year, happy healthy new year as well. >> Thank you, Dr. Sanle, Mr. Burgerer. >> Good evening and happy new year. Uh, I too want to thank Central Valley for hosting tonight and a special shout out to the CBTV club, the
023students and Mr. Krill. Um, it was a fantastic video and I certainly thoroughly enjoyed watching a day in the life of Central Valley. It was very well done. Um, I also want to congratulate those who had their upcoming retirements approved tonight. There were four individuals and I want to just highlight those four because each of them have given a significant amount of time and dedication to our district uh from anywhere from from 10 to over 30 years of service. So, I want to congratulate Barbara Bakus who has worked in our payroll department in our education center, Moren Gaffne who is a special education teacher at the middle school, Kathy Fico who is a longtime secretary in the district and also works out at the education center and also to Alisa Whittle who was a first
024grade teacher at Smith Clove. Uh again, I I've had the I was fortunate enough to work with each of them in some capacity, you know, in my career here. uh they're terrific people and they're they're sorely going to be missed, but we want to thank them for their dedication um over over in some cases decades of time. So, uh thank you. And with that, I wish everybody a good evening. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Uh much of what everybody says, thank you to everyone for the wonderful video and our lovely hosts here. Congratulations to the Hall of Famers. Well earned and welld deserved and have a great evening. >> Thank you, Dr. Pas. Happy new year everyone. U Mr. Baron, great great thank you for hosting us. It's I remember the first phone
025call like hey can we try this and here we are. So thank you for taking u and running with that. Uh big shout out to Mr. Krill and and Mrs. Jackson. Uh really really great to see the kids progressing and to Dr. Hler's point I think this is a great feeder for the with the video production class that we have in the high school as well. Um congratulations to Kathy Fe. Um she's retiring after long years of services. She is our go-to from even technology. Even though she works in a Mr. Kale's office, whether we need policy, contract, anything in terms of technology or even a budget transfer, the last minute budget transfer, she takes care of it. Kathy, you will be missed, but good luck with the next adventure. >> Thank you, Dr. Ryan.
026Mr. Ko, >> thank you. Uh, so I'd also like to echo what others have said and and thank Central Valley for hosting tonight. Uh, and the CVTV team for an outstanding video. It really was excellent. Um, and I'd also like to congratulate uh Kathy Fico, the business office for her upcoming retirement. Um, Kathy and I have worked closely together for approximately six years. And Kathy's been a great help and a great asset uh to the business office and me personally. And I wish her all the best uh in her retirement. And um I hope everyone has a great new year and a nice evening. Thank you. >> Sorry. >> All right. Again, thank you Central Valley for having us. And again, like everyone else has said, thank you to CVTV for the video. The transitions
027and the angles were absolutely fire. Uh, keep up the great work. And I hope that when you get to the high school, you join MDUTV. Um, I also had the great experience of going to the Pine Tree Readathon and reading two books. Thank you so much to Pine Tree for the invitation. and I also went to the high school concert band, concert orchestra, and the freshman chorus, and it was amazing. Thank you and have a great night. >> Vice President Donnie, >> good evening. I first like to start with thanking Central Valley for hosting us and for CDTV. It always amazes me at how talented our students are, and they really are. That was very enjoyable. Thank you so much. Um I'd like to congratulate all our retirees and I believe it's Marisol welcome as
028the registar and um really looking forward to multicultural evening at North Maine next week >> and I'd like to wish everybody a happy new year and good evening. Thank you Dr. Norman. >> Good evening everyone. So I want to just ask M. Jackson, Mr. of her own to just kind of take pause for a second and really uh all the people that put all this energy and work into what we witnessed tonight. And sometimes, you know, these sentiments can come across as redundant, but I really want you to to take to heart that we see and acknowledge all of the hard work and great things uh that are happening. CD is just a beautiful community and I I know I've shared that with with you all before and we say these things publicly but we
029really mean it. What these uh students do is nothing short of amazing and we know it's not just the people that are here tonight that it's a team approach. Uh that includes, you know, parents, aids, teachers, administrators, but we really need to acknowledge and celebrate, you know, the product that we consistently see. And we're not just saying thank you and great job. We we mean it. And and you need to know that to Zoe. Um I just beam with pride you when you speak. and and you know sometimes I want you to to know that uh we see you you as a student and we know that it takes a lot to sit at this adas and and articulate the things that you do and you do it extremely well and when you talk I
030pay attention and I take note and I want you to know one of the things that you highlighted um regarding the 10th grader that they would like to see uh more security being improved. Um we're going to talk about that and I wanted to say that publicly so that you as well as uh those that are out in the audience and and listening can can hold us accountable because if if you take the time to put the work in you, we're going to do our part. We're going to do everything we can to to build confidence and trust to let you and students know that we listen and more importantly that we're going to action those things. So, thank you so much for for all that you're doing. Continue to do great things and continue
031to make us proud. So, just a few announcements. Uh first and foremost, welcome back really. and and and we have to keep this energy going because this is the time of year where the holiday season, you know, comes to a close or whatever. The skies are gray and dark and you know, there's research behind uh your depression being high. Um so I want to keep this energy and I want you to stay connected and and make sure we take care of ourselves. Um, check your inboxes later this week for the district newsletter. Uh, in it, I share highlights about district-wide initiatives, including the strategic planning process, capital project, and kudos to Eric Hassler, Caris Bailey for our Hall of Distinction. Uh, lots of great things happening, lots of important things happening. I'm asking for community
032members to please, please, please complete the online survey or attend upcoming community sessions to help us shape the district's five-year strategic plan. Now, this survey is going to close on January 31st, and the links and information about the sessions can be found on our district-wide website. Your voice matters. Your input matters. We we need you to do that. Along those same lines, we have a draft vision and mission statement. And it's not Dr. Norman's vision and mission statement. It's not President Yaitlyn Simmons. It's our vision and mission statement. In order to do that effectively, um, we've drafted that version and I want you, I'm asking you to just take a look at it and if you want to contribute feedback, the way that you can do that is to visit uh, communications department at communications
033mw.k12. us. I'm sorry. Uh, talk to us. Tell us. You have my word that we will listen. I can't talk about this super sub initiative enough. Yeah. I just want to take a moment to share how much I've enjoyed serving as a substitute you for several of our staff members as part of the super sub initiative that began this school year. So far, I've worked as a head custodian, food services worker, fourth grade teacher, and third grade teacher. I can't put into words how much I've learned and enjoy from those experiences. Um, I look forward to the remainder of the school year and many roles I will play in the district. Starting this week, which is tomorrow, at Smith Clove, I'm going to serve as an AIS math TA and I'm looking forward to doing
034that. Happy New Year. Welcome back. Have a good evening. >> It's always a hard act to follow always. Um before I get into my updates, I'd just like to take a moment to address the two current vacancies on um on the board of education. In December, the board accepted letters of interest from Monroe Woodbury residents. Following tonight's meeting, myself and the rest of the trustees will review applications and determine which candidates will advance to the interview stage. Once interviews conclude, the board will vote to appoint two trustees to serve for the remainder of the school year. We aim to finalize appointments by the end of January with the new trustees being sworn in at the February 4th board meeting. Additional updates will be shared as decisions are made. So, thank you. I too like to
035share the sentiments of all of my colleagues to say thank you to um Mr. Baron, Miss Jackson, Mr. Curl, CT CVTV, uh the future Oscar and Emmy winners of the world and the future of broadcasting are right here in Monroe Woodbury. It never ceases to amaze me, like my colleague said, the talent of the young people here and the amazing professionals that we have here that pull that talent out of them. It is a joy for me, not only as a parent, but as a person who sits on this board to see all of the fantastic work that comes out of here and all that you pour into our students. So, thank you for for that. Um, thank you for hosting us. Uh, we really do appreciate it. I also like to say on a
036personal level, thank you to everyone who has reached out to me, congratulated me on my appointment as board president. I am extremely humbled. I am grateful. Um, like I say probably way too often. Monroe Woodbury is the family that you may not have asked for, but they're the family anyway. Um, this district has a way of just enveloping you and welcoming you. And I pledge to do all that I can to make sure that I live up to all of the expectations um uh that this role brings and I look forward to all of the wonderful and amazing work that I do with all of these individuals and everyone in the community in this role. So, I humbly gratefully thank you. Um, I also want to wish a happy belated birthday to our very own
037Zoe. So, happy happy birthday. She celebrated a birthday during the uh holiday break. So, big number 17. So, congratulations, Zoe. The world is your oyster. You have all of the tools. You've shown it here at these board meetings to be anything and everything. I I said this um earlier this week when I visited Miss Bula's class, dream big and dream often. If your dreams don't scare you, then they're not big enough. But judging by the things that you are doing here, your dreams are farreaching and I look forward to seeing all of the amazing things that you do. So, happy happy birthday. Um, I also want to um just say thank you to everyone and happy happy new year. Happy 2026. I look forward to all of the amazing work that we do together. So,
038motion to adjourn to executive session. >> But before you adjourn, boss, you mentioned um birthday. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge uh Chris Burgerer's birthday is today. >> Happy birthday, MR. BURGER. >> YOU WERE GOING TO SNEAK out of here without telling us that. Well, thank you. Well, happy birthday to you. And although you're slightly older than Zoe, you're the world is coming AS WELL, [laughter] >> BUT we wish you a happy birthday and thank you for sharing your birthday with us. >> Thank you. >> Of course. Um so mo motion to adjurnn to public session to uh discuss personnel matters. >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. All in favor? I leading is ajourned.